On Sunday, women's basketball takes center stage as the RedHawks play in their first ever NCAA tournament game, matching up against Louisville at 2:30p on ESPN.  The RedHawks earned a spot in the tournament with its MAC tournament championship last weekend in Cleveland, culminating in a 67-56 victory versus OU.  Miami, seeded #13 in the tournament, is currently 23-10 and has won 12 of their last 13 games.  Louisville, seeded #4, is 24-9 and lost to Connecticut in the Big East championship game.  A Miami victory would advance them to the second round against either Kansas State or Chattanooga on Tuesday.

Good luck to both the ice hockey team on its quest for a CCHA tournament title and the women's basketball team on its quest to win its first ever NCAA tournament game.

You can read more here at MURedHawks.com. 

(And I know, I know, the information may not be as in-depth as the hardcore fans would like, but exposure is exposure...)

At any rate, here are the articles.

• Men: Can Miami Do Unexpected?
• Women: RedHawks have potential
• Men: Five Games to Watch (three of which are against local teams)
• Men: The 2006-07 RedHawks

Online Recruiting Info

Also in today's Enquirer is an article by Dustin Dow about online recruiting information, and in particular, the Rivals and Sout networks. Even as we've compiled our own recruiting news (and one continual hat tip to Nick for doing so), we've tried to encourage our users to keep perspective on what recruiting sites are and how their rankings should be regarded. I think Dustin's article echoes much of what we've said in the past. You can also get more of Dustin's thoughts in his blog.

For most of the game, the Falcons played like the ranked team it is, and the RedHawks’ inexperience (at times, four freshmen were on the floor) showed. But late in the game, a tenacious Miami pressing defense fueled a furious 22-4 run, cutting a 28-point BG lead to a 10 point edge. It was too little too late for this game, but offers a sign of how well this team is capable of playing. This might bode well for the MAC Tourney.

Jenna Schone led the RedHawks with 13 points, and Cindi Merrill scored 11 in her final game at Millett Hall. Cindi had an excellent blocked shot to stuff a BG fast break: a play fans will remember for quite awhile. Miami also got a nice spark from some of the freshmen off the bench, like Stephanie Ford and Ashley Hawkins.

Miami will open MAC Tourney play on the road this Saturday, with the opponent to be determined tonight. If CMU wins at West Division champ Eastern Michigan tonight, then CMU will claim the 4 seed in the West and Miami will travel to Mt. Pleasant. MORE LIKELY, Miami will play at Northern Illinois, which would have the 4 seed if EMU beats Central.

Miami’s slumping offense, which showed signs of life with the 3-point shooting of Jenna Schone and Cindi Merrill, disappeared down the stretch. Miami was unable to connect on a field goal over the game’s final 9:36 (0-for-8 with 5 turnovers), which allowed Akron to rally from 6 points down and end the game on a 12-1 run. The RedHawk defense, which carried the team for a third consecutive game, was unable to compensate for a 28.8% shooting night.

Now, it looks like Miami must pull out upset wins at second place Kent State Saturday and against Bowling Green (#26 in the AP, #25 in the coaches poll) Tuesday. Otherwise, the RedHawks will have to win on the road March 4 to earn the right to advance to Cleveland.

The win keeps the RedHawks’ hopes alive for a possible home court advantage in the MAC tournament’s first round.

This one was keyed by the freshmen. Point guard Jenna Schone led a balanced attack with 13 points, and Eve Pyle flirted with a double-double off the bench.

In Mount Pleasant to face the Chippewas on the 1st, the RedHawks put together an excellent 35 minutes of basketball, but never quite gathered enough momentum to get over the hump. What started as a 62-60 CMU lead with 4:16 left in the game ballooned to eight points a minute later, as fatigue took a toll on Miami. Despite a fantastic 23-point, 9-board outing from Cindi Merrill, Miami fell 80-67, with the Chips hitting their free throws down the stretch to ensure that the RedHawks wouldn’t close the gap.

Miami then began a brief, two-game homestand on the 4th, hosting Northern Illinois. Miami surged to an early 8-4 lead, but the Huskies went on a 16-0 run to force a timeout. Maria Fantanarosa calmed the team down, and Miami’s defense was the story for the rest of the half, as the RedHawks put together a 14-4 run to trail by two at halftime. Defense was the story in the second half as well, with both teams putting together runs and shutting down the opposition. With under a minute left, the score was 49-49, but NIU’s Mary Basic stole the spotlight with the winning jumper when eight seconds remained. Unsurprisingly, in a defensive-minded game, the RedHawks’ standout performance wasn’t found in the points column--Amber Miller had a great evening with six blocks and nine rebounds.

The RedHawks then played host to the Broncos on the 8th, and once again, Miami came away on the losing end. In an up-tempo first half, Miami went shot-for-shot with WMU before succumbing to a long scoring drought to end the half. The RedHawks trailed 42-29 at the break. In the second half, Miami stepped up the defensive intensity, cutting the Broncos’ lead to six, but timely threes and offensive rebounds from WMU kept the game out of Miami’s reach. The RedHawks ended up falling by a score of 70-60. With 11 points and 5 boards in just 22 minutes, Cindi Merrill was once again the player of the game.

The losing streak extended to five games with a big loss on the road at MAC West leaders Eastern Michigan. At the half, the RedHawks trailed 44-21. The Eagles were simply overwhelming, shooting 58.6% and scoring 19 points off turnovers in the first 20 minutes. Things only got worse in the second half, as EMU opened on a gigantic run to take a 43-point lead by the ten-minute mark. Miami closed the game on a high note, going on a run to make the final gap 23 points at 78-55. The RedHawks avoided their first 30-point MAC loss since 2000 thanks in large part to freshman Stephanie Ford, who scored eight straight points to go with two steals and an assist in the game’s closing minutes.

Next up for the RedHawks: at UB tomorrow in a battle for home court in the first round of the MAC tournament.