Syracuse Roars on in the ACC Tournament

Coach Quentin Hillsman and company are one step closer to the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

It was a slow and sluggish start for the Orange against the Eagles … almost as if they were missing a key ingredient … or had to get some jitters out for playing a pivotal game for the confidence of a team without its veteran point guard – not to mention, the best passer in the nation in Tiana Mangakahia.

Nonetheless, Mangakahia’s backcourt partner took care of business in winning time. The fourth quarter witnessed a period in which Kiara Lewis hit a jumper, converted a drive to the bucket and to top it all off, converted a 3-point play to shift momentum towards the Orange, in back-to-back-to-back plays. Lewis’ play helped Syracuse score its first win in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament against the Boston College Eagles with a final of 67-to-61. The Orange will advance to play the Florida State Seminoles on Friday.

The Orange started off in a drought … shooting 7-for-21 well into the first half. Without the general leading the troops, the Orange offense was stagnant at times. Kiara Lewis was her aggressive self, as she took 11 shots in the first half alone. Lewis had 13, a much-needed effort in the first half (game-high) for the Orange. ACC Freshman of the year Kamilla Cardoso had a rough outing as the Orange looked to feed her early and often, only for pass deflections and double teams to occur, leading to SU turnovers . The Eagles had Cardoso's name circled before the game as the core focus of the Orange's offense without Mangakahia. 

Syracuse was the leader in two very telling stats in the first half of the game – turnovers and personal fouls. The Orange had eight in each category with almost four minutes to play in the first half as Boston College was not too far behind with four and five, respectively. Things would change in the second half as the Eagles went on to commit 23 personal fouls for the game  (SU simmered down and finished with 16).

All of that said, Syracuse led the Eagles 31-to-27 as the first half buzzer sounded.

The second half started off on a much different note for Syracuse as Digna Strautmane hit what was her third trifecta of the night in the first few minutes. Strautmane’s scoring, however, is not as valuable as her gritty play, which doesn't always show up in the stat sheet, but her toughness has a clear impact on Syracuse. Strautmane finished the contest with 13 points and eight rebounds.

Emily Engstler also left her finger prints all over this game. Despite missing some easy looks at the rim after making plethora of post moves, Engstler gobbled up 15 rebounds, 10 of which came in the first half.

Syracuse's game against Florida State is set for 2:30 p.m. tomorrow.  – the Orange's third against the Seminoles this season. 

Notes: Syracuse had a 10-to-15 assist to turnover ratio in lieu of Mangakahia … the Orange beat the Eagles in battle of the boards 43-to-36 … SU scored 32 points in the paint despite a rough/ foul trouble night for Cardoso … the Orange made a trip to the free throw line 25 times against BC, converting 18 (72%).