Thornton Records Double-Double as Clemson Falls to Miami
CLEMSON, S.C. — Clemson fell to Miami at Littlejohn Coliseum on Sunday. Kobi Thornton recorded her second double-double of the season for the Tigers, but the Hurricanes knocked down 13 3-pointers and pulled out a 63-48 win.
Clemson (7-19, 3-12) and Miami (13-12, 5-9) were fairly even in the shooting efficiency department. The Hurricanes shot 38.5 percent from the floor, and the Tigers finished with a shooting percentage of 37.5. However, Miami went 13-for-27 from 3-point range and benefited from 19 bench points. The Tigers forced 19 turnovers, which led to 17 points, and tallied 24 points in the paint.
Thornton scored 19 points to go along with a season-high 11 rebounds. She surpassed the 750-rebound mark for her career and made several impressive plays at the rim on the afternoon. Kendall Spray sank four 3-balls as part of a 14-point showing, with 12 of her 14 points coming in the first half. She also tabbed four assists. Mikayla Hayes pulled down six rebounds and also notched four points off the bench. Mykea Gray manned the charge for Miami with 17 points, five boards and four assists. She netted four treys.
A competitive first quarter ended with Clemson leading 13-12, as 3-balls by Spray on back-to-back Tiger possessions put Clemson ahead late in the period. Danae McNeal provided a spark for the Tigers off the bench in the second quarter via a couple of fruitful drives to the hoop. Clemson shot an efficient 45.8 percent in the first half, but Miami sported a 50-43 lead at the intermission.
The Tigers outscored the Hurricanes 16-12 in the third quarter, going on an 8-0 run over the course of 2:17 to cut their deficit to three points. Miami committed seven turnovers in the third quarter, but the Hurricanes were able to weather the storm down the stretch. The Hurricanes led 50-43 heading into the fourth quarter and proceeded to outscore the Tigers 13-5 in the final period en route to winning 63-48.
Sunday's loss to Miami wrapped up a three-game homestand for Clemson. The Tigers' next two contests will be on the road, starting with a matchup in Syracuse, N.Y., against the Syracuse Orange (13-11, 7-6) on Thursday, Feb. 20. Set to tip off at 6 p.m., the ACC tilt at the Carrier Dome will air on the ACC Network.
Head Coach Amanda Butler
Opening statement:
"We did a lot of things right. Obviously, we had a hard time scoring in the fourth quarter. We struggled with turnovers, particularly in the first half. We weren't as bad with turnovers in the second half. The story of the game is that we gave up too many threes to shooters again. We don't seem to be able to prevent that from happening."
On the keys to the game:
"Give [Miami's] kids credit. Some of them hit threes that were a little outside of their scout, and we're just not very good at adjusting midstream. Hopefully, we'll learn some lessons from that moving forward."
On Clemson's impactful performers:
"Danae [McNeal] got some good minutes and made things happen for us, and Chyna [Cotton] played some good defense for us."