Dec. 28, 2002

Final Stats

INDIANAPOLIS-Miami University's women's basketball team refused to let lightning strike twice Saturday afternoon at Butler University's Hinkle Fieldhouse, withstanding a furious Bulldog rally and snapping a three-game losing streak with a 72-61 win.

Driven by an efficient offensive attack and stingy defense, the RedHawks patiently assembled an 18-6 lead over the games' first eight minutes. From there, the Miami offense it high gear, taking off on an 18-3 run and building a 30-9 advantage by the eight-minute mark. During the stretch, Miami held Butler without a field goal for more than seven minutes.

Butler turned up its defensive intensity over the final seven minutes of the half, slowing Miami's offense and creating a number of turnovers. After brief runs by both teams, Butler rallied at the end of the half, closing to within 41-26. Heather Cusick, who was 6-of-9 from the field in the half, led Miami with 14 points, while Colleen Day added 10 points and six rebounds. The Red and White shot 58 percent from the field in the half, while restricting Butler to just six field goals and 29 percent shooting.

A back-and-forth battle consumed the first nine minutes of the second half, until a Cusick 3-pointer sparked an 11-0 RedHawk run that gave Miami a game-high 27-point lead. As fast as Miami had built its seemingly back-breaking 64-37 lead, however, a feisty Butler squad erased it with a 15-0 run. Down by just 12 points with under four minutes to play, Butler continued to fluster the RedHawks, who committed 17 second-half turnovers.

With flashbacks of a comeback loss to Kentucky a week earlier looming overhead, Kim Lancaster finally ended a more than five-minute scoring drought for the RedHawks with back-to-back field goals, and Cusick netted four free throws down the stretch as Miami allowed the Bulldogs no closer than nine points during a wild final three minutes.

Cusick led Miami (5-4) with 21 points and four assists-recording her second 20-point scoring effort of the season and moving within one assist of 500 for her career. Day, Melanie Kozlowski and Lancaster all added 10 points, with Day contributing a career-high 14 rebounds. Miami out-rebounded the Bulldogs (2-7) 45-29 and shot 52 percent from the field, while holding Butler, which attempted 19 more free throws, to 34 percent shooting.

Miami returns home Monday to host Clemson University as the first half of a women's and men's doubleheader that begins at 6 p.m. Admission to both games comes for the price of a men's ticket. Clemson is the first Atlantic Coast Conference program to visit Millett Hall.

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