The Miami Hurricanes women’s basketball team is off to a great start to open the 2025-26 season. The Lady Canes, under second-year head coach Tricia Cullop, entered the year with a spotless slate. The fun but obnoxious Cavinder Twins era ended mercifully. All but one player (Ahnay Adams) left the program either due to graduation or through the transfer portal.
Cullop hoped to have a smoother second season with the keys in her hands. So far, Miami has built on last year’s 14-15 record. So what does
this new team have to offer? Who are its leading women on the court? Who is this squad, and how have they been up to this point in the women’s college basketball season? You’ll find all of that and more. Let’s deep dive into this team’s performance.
Lady Canes Take Classic Approach
Tricia Cullop’s offense follows the same old-school approach: a dominant scoring big man and a scoring guard who can facilitate. Ra Shaya Kyle serves as the primary scoring option who’s always down low. Gal Raviv is the second-leading scorer and primary playmaker for the offense, often finding the 6’6” senior center near the rim.
These two have been incredible for the Hurricanes so far and have led the charge for one of the nation’s best offenses. Kyle, the Marion, Indiana product, has seen and played lots of Division 1 ball in different roles. Her career began at Purdue back in 2020.
She primarily came off the bench during her first two seasons. After wanting more time on the floor following a nagging injury, she transferred to Florida. It was in Gainesville where Kyle began to flourish. Over a three-season span from 2022-23 to 2024-25, the big man carved out a role as a full-time starter.
During her time with the Gators, she became a viable option and was usually the second or third-leading scorer. Now, she has a new role as the face of the program. Early on, she excelled. After nine games, Kyle is averaging 15.9 points and 10.6 rebounds per game, leading the team in both categories.
Her scoring can be appreciated more than most players because she does it with great efficiency. Over the last few seasons, Kyle has established herself as one of the most efficient players in the game, as she has posted shooting percentages of 58 percent and 59 percent over her previous two years.
The consistency has continued at Miami, where Kyle is making 58.1 percent of her shots through the first month. All of this is coming with her having the most shots per game in a season during her career. To go along with her scoring and rebounding abilities, Kyle has also been supreme on the defensive end, blocking well over a shot per contest.
The other component to this dynamic duo has been just as imperative to the success of this team. Raviv is a star in the making. The sophomore guard from Israel has a year of Division 1 experience under her belt. Last season at Quinnipiac, Raviv established herself as one of the best freshmen in the country.
She received lots of notoriety by being named the 2025 MAAC Player of the Year, MAAC Rookie of the Year, and ECAC Rookie of the Year by scoring nearly 18 points per game as a Bobcat. The European has made the transition seamlessly. Raviv has been able to become a dominant scoring guard and is the main distributor of the offense.
Averaging 3.9 assists per game, Raviv has been able to create shots for herself and for others. She possesses crafty handles and excels most with the ball in her hands. Raviv has a quick first step and can hit tough shots, like step-back threes. However, she prefers to put the ball on the deck and settle for close-to-mid-range shots.
Raviv is multi-dimensional, as she can do more than assist in the flow of the offense. The 5’9” guard has been able to drop 14.3 points per game. For a high-volume player, she also shoots efficiently. Rough nights have been recorded, such as a rough season opener against Hofstra in which she shot 4-for-11. 3-for-10 nights were also recorded against Bethune-Cookman and Iowa.
However, there have been great outings as well. Despite losing to No. 24 Oklahoma State in the Cayman Islands Classic, Raviv gave UM a chance to pull off an upset. She scored 21 points on 57 percent shooting from the field. So far, the backcourt star has shot nearly 47 percent from the field. More shotmaking from beyond the arc is needed for her to fully break out as a supreme scorer.
Guard-Heavy Lineup Is Versatile
Miami mostly depends on small-ball lineups. Other than Raviv, three guards have seen at least 20 minutes of playing time per game. Each brings their own set of unique skills that gives the Lady Canes versatility. Firstly, 5’6” sophomore Ahnay Adams has impacted games by providing solid two-way play.
The Massachusetts native is the one holdover from last season. It feels right that she was the one to stay. Adams has provided some scoring. passing, and stingy defense. Offensively, Adams averages 8.1 points on 44.6 percent shooting while only attempting 6.2 shots per game. She has also added to the playmaking, averaging three assists.
However, the part of her game that’s most admirable is her desire to play a gritty style. Adams isn’t deterred by her size. She isn’t intimidated by more imposing and taller players. You can always find her fighting for rebounds underneath the glass, and she’s effective at doing so for a player of her short stature.
Adams has averaged just over three boards per game. She also has wreaked havoc on opposing backcourts. She has prided herself on being a great defensive player, averaging well over a steal per game for the second straight year. Adams consistently gets into passing lanes with the attentiveness of a well-trained dog. For comparison, she is a female collegiate version of the Miami Heat’s Davion Mitchell.
Two other guards getting key minutes are Amarachi Simpson and Vittoria Blasigh. Simpson is a junior transfer from UNLV. The native of Little Elm, Texas, brings NCAA Tournament experience to the roster. The 5’8” standout had success in the Sin City.
Simpson was named the Mountain West’s Freshman of the Year as well as the Sixth Player of the Year in 2024. She has been able to provide some scoring of her own (10.7 PPG), being another weapon in the Miami attack. Just like Raviv and Adams, she also forces turnovers, collecting over a steal in nine games.
Blasigh is another European on the roster, as she has come to America from Udine, Italy. The 5’9” junior has taken on a role that has seen her little less playing time. At USF, she averaged nearly 30 minutes a game as a freshman and 26 as a sophomore. This season, she’s averaging 21.3 minutes. She, too, has shone at her previous school, being named the American Conference’s Freshman of the Year in 2024.
Despite that, her role hasn’t changed. Blasigh is usually given the role of the main sharpshooter on a team. This year for the Hurricanes, the Italian has shot 38.5 percent from three and 46.3 percent from the field. Amongst this group, she is the individual who gets the least amount of touches. However, she has provided big buckets when needed.
Solid Frontcourt Depth In Place
Despite heavily leaning on backcourt players, the Lady Canes also have some solid depth in the frontcourt. More specifically, Jessica Peterson and Natalia Wetzel have brought the most production amongst the depth players. Peterson is a hybrid starter/bench player who is an ACC veteran from her days at SMU.
She has a multifaceted skill set, which is a constant theme across the Miami roster. She can rebound, score inside and out, and block shots. Last season, while with the Mustangs, she led the ACC in rebounds last year, averaging 12 boards per game.
Despite playing an average of 15 minutes less compared to last season, Peterson has still been able to make her mark. The California native has been able to grab 6.4 boards per game. While on the court, she doesn’t get many opportunities, but Peterson has been consistent.
On five shot attempts per game, she is shooting 56 percent from the field and averaging six points per game. Needless to say, the senior has proved to be a solid backup for Ra Shaya Kyle, as she has been able to be productive enough to get a few starts. It’s important to note that Peterson has missed three games so far.
On the other hand, Wetzel has been able to find her footing quickly as a freshman. The native of McMurray, Pennsylvania, has filled the role of the sharpshooter off the bench. Wetzel is the prototypical 3-point heavy wing that has dominated the days of modern basketball.
Wetzel averages 3.6 shots per game, and 2.4 of them come from beyond the arc. Whenever Miami needs a couple of quick buckets, she can come in and provide instant offense to keep them in a contest. She has shot 56.3 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point land and has averaged 5.6 points per game. Fellow forward Soma Okola has also contributed during the season.
Efficient Offense Leads Charge
The Lady Canes have been one of the top offenses in the nation. As stated plenty of times before, multiple players can fill up the scoring sheet. Because of the production coming from almost everyone on the roster, Miami has been putting up impressive numbers through the first eight contests of the season.
If you look solely at how many points they’ve scored, you wouldn’t be impressed. As of now, Miami ranks 69th in the nation by averaging 75.2 points per game. That ranking is still in the top half of the country, but not jaw-dropping. However, it isn’t always about how many points a team averages.
UM is an efficient team. Offensively, Tricia Cullop has prioritized getting high-percentage looks at the basket, something not preached much in current-day basketball. Rather than be fixated on jacking up 3-pointers, Cullop has gone the traditional route of going inside-out, and it’s been the right decision.
The squad is shooting at a 45.8 percent clip, good enough to rank 45th in the country in field goal percentage. Miami’s true shooting percentage is solid, currently sitting at 53.7 percent, and its effective field goal percentage is at 50 percent. The scoring attack has seen everyone contribute.
Eight Hurricanes players have been shooting 40 percent or higher, and that includes seven regulars. The one outlier is freshman guard Simone Pelish, who’s only averaged just under seven minutes a game. Their well-balanced production across the lineup has allowed them to put up an offensive rating of 106.9, ranking 40th in the nation.
Struggles Against Power Conference Opponents
Despite Miami getting off to a 6-3 start, the Canes have yet to beat a power conference team. Their chance to secure an upset over a non-conference opponent in the power leagues went up in smoke after their defeat to Kentucky. Against the No. 17 Wildcats, UM got walloped at home by 16 points.
However, they also played against No.19 Iowa as well as No.24 Oklahoma State. In both contests, the Hurricanes lost by a combined six points. They fell to the Hawkeyes 64-61 and to the Cowgirls 87-84 in the Cayman Islands Classic.
Of course, with an entirely new roster, it can take time for a team to fully gel and be on the same page. This means that winning games against ranked opponents could be difficult to come by, and most of the time, they are. However, for a program that is trying to post its first NCAA Tournament appearance in three years, UM has to string together wins aginst big-time competition to impress the selection committee.
There is still plenty of time for the Lady Canes to do so; however, it won’t be easy in a dense ACC. The common trait in each of the aforementioned losses has been Miami’s inability to guard the paint. They got outscored in the paint 46-26 against Iowa, 42-26 against Oklahoma State, and 30-20 against Kentucky.
They have also been outrebounded in each game. If Miami is to have a successful run in ACC play, it needs to be able to anchor down those aspects. If they let this be a consistent issue, it could be a long year for UM. Things must change in those aspects if Miami is going to be taken seriously as the season progresses.
Defense Needs Improvement
Speaking of not getting outrebounded or outscored in the paint, UM’s defense needs to be better. There’s a classic saying in sports that reads, ‘defense wins championships. ’ In this era, that can be debated in the sport of basketball. High-scoring offenses and the heavy reliance on the 3-ball have made many question that ideology.
However, there is one thing that can never be debated. Good defense will always give you the best chances to win. If a team doesn’t play good defense, its best chances of winning go out the door, and that’s the case in every sport. Ask the 1980s Denver Nuggets, who were led by Doug Moe.
Ask the 1981 San Diego Chargers, who would’ve won a Super Bowl had they had a capable defense.More notably, ask former Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino. Maybe he knows a thing or two about how a good defense could help you win. In fact, that was one of the two things that he consistently needed and lacked during his legendary career.
You just need to have the ability to get stops consistently, and for the Lady Canes, that has not been the case. Despite putting up good offensive numbers, Miami has not done well in guarding its own end of the floor. As of now, UM has a defensive rating of 84, which ranks 120th in the nation.
Now, it hasn’t been outright horrible. The team held their first opponents to under 50 points. As stated earlier, the guard rotation has been able to force plenty of turnovers. They have done a great job at defending the perimeter, allowing opponents to post a horrendous 26 shooting percentage from beyond the arc.
However, they are not a good rebounding team. Miami ranks 188th in the country in total rebounds (336). Also, they are in the bottom half in the ACC in defensive boards (27.6 RPG). The frontcourt hasn’t helped add to the great effort that the backcourt has been giving on the defensive end. The shot blocking also has to be better.
Miami also ranks 10th in the ACC in scoring defense, allowing 59.1 points per game to the opposition. The team is 12th in the league in opponent field goal percentage (39.4%). They have allowed many easy baskets to the opposition from close range. These are aspects that Miami needs to get better at, especially as ACC play approaches.
