Clemson Overcomes Sluggish First Half to Pick Up 55-50 Win at Miami (OH)

Dec. 30, 2002

OXFORD, Ohio – Chrissy Floyd scored 21 points in leading Clemson to a 55-50 win over Miami (OH) in a women’s intercollegiate basketball game at Oxford, OH Monday night. The Lady Tigers improve to 8-3 overall this season. Looking inside early, Miami got off to a strong start, leading 7-4 at the first media timeout after a Jana Butler layup. Heather became the first player in Miami women’s basketball history to reach 500 career assists with the dish on the Butler scoring play. In a very even, defensive-oriented start, neither team was able to locate its shooting touch and the score was just 10-9 in favor of Clemson with under nine minutes to play.

Despite chilly shooting, Miami claimed its largest lead of the game, 22-16, at 2:15 when Cusick drained the Red and White’s first trey. Beth Roederer’s trey shortly before the break sent Miami into the break with a 27-16 advantage. Clemson shot just 27 percent from the field in the half, while Miami, keyed by a balanced attack, hit 37 percent from the floor.

Though Miami maintained its aggressive defense, Clemson converted some tough shots out of the gates and rallied to within five by the 16-minute mark. A Cindi Merrill three-point play temporarily stalled the Lady Tiger rally, but Clemson, which hit 11 of its first 15 second-half shots, surged once again, closing to 34-30 with under 13 minutes to play. The Lady Tigers claimed their first lead in more than 20 minutes, 38-37, with a Tia Andrew layup.

Melanie Kozlwoski 3-point field goal stopped a Clemson run that had given the Lady Tigers their largest lead of the game at 42-37. Another Kozlowski trey and a pair of Merrill free throws with under five minutes to play put Miami back in front at 49-48. Clemson responded with a Floyd trey to regain the lead and, following a Butler free throw, Miami trailed 51-50 with 1:31 to play.

Miami had a chance to take the lead when Nicki Motto stole the ball and hit Kim Smith with a pass on the fast break, but Clemson’s Kanetra Queen came up with one of the Lady Tigers’six blocked shots and gave Clemson the lead and the ball with under a minute to play. The Lady Tigers expanded their lead with a pair of Amanda White free throws on the next possession. Miami was unable to get off a quality shot on its next possession and Clemson put the game out of reach with a pair of Chrissy Floyd free throws with nine seconds remaining.

Leading Miami, which fell to 5-5, was Cusick, who tallied 10 points. No other RedHawks scored in double figures as Miami shot just 34 percent for the game and failed to hit a field goal in the final 5:22 of the game. Clemson was paced by Floyd’s 21 points.

Clemson will play host to Virginia Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. in the Civic Center of Anderson in Anderson, SC.