In a battle between two NCAA Tournament hopefuls, the Syracuse Orange (21-5, 11-4) overcame an inefficient performance on offense to squeak by the Clemson Tigers (18-9, 9-6) 68-64 on Sunday.
It was a tight contest from start to finish. Syracuse would win the first quarter 17-12. That was the largest margin of any quarter for the rest of the game. Despite shooting under 37%, free throws and rebounding proved to be key for the Orange. Syracuse outscored Clemson 14-0 in second-chance points and held an 18-1 advantage on offensive rebounds. Syracuse also notably finished 14/16 from the foul line en route to its fifth Quadrant 2 win of the year.
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Leading the was Sophie Burrows, who finished with a team-high 19 points and career-high 16 rebounds (eight offensive). Laila Phelia scored 17, while Uche Izoje had 11. For Clemson, Mia Moore (17 points and 7 assists) and Taylor Johnson-Matthews (17 points on 7/10 shooting) both finished in double-figures. Clemson’s bench outscored the Orange’s by 30 points.
With the win, Syracuse also moves to 14-3 at home and 5-1 in Q2 games, while remaining in the hunt for a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament.
It bears noting: this was also a special game for the Syracuse women’s basketball community. Sunday was the team’s annual breast cancer awareness game. During halftime, the team paid tribute to Tiana Mangakahia, the former star Orange guard who died in September after battling breast cancer for years.
Syracuse began the game with a near-picture-perfect start.
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The Orange opened with an 8-0 run. It started with Izoje scoring just 12 seconds in. There were then baskets soon after by Sophie Burrows, Phelia and Uche again. Demeara Hinds ended the slow start for Clemson, who was 0/3 with two turnovers in its first five possessions, after converting on her layup attempt.
Dominique Darius then connected on a corner three off a pass from Uche to put ‘Cuse up as much as nine (11-2) before Rusne Augustinaite responded with a triple of her own. Another score by Uche, who had six of Syracuse’s first 13 points, allowed the Orange to keep an eight-point lead heading into the first media timeout.
A quick five points coming out of the timeout by Johnson-Matthews and Hannah Kohn would trim Syracuse’s lead back down to three, but Phelia and Burrows each made their second baskets of the contest to keep the Orange in front as the period came to a close. Syracuse was up 17-12 heading into the second quarter.
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Augustinaite would get the first basket of the quarter after knocking down a baseline mid-ranger over an Orange defender, but it was the reserves who provided the spark initially.
After the starters scored every basket in the first quarter, Olivia Schmitt off the bench helped give Syracuse a quick five-point burst. She found Jasmyn Cooper open for a layup, then drilled a step-back three from the wing. She would ignite a 7-0 run capped off by another make from Burrows.
Several possessions later, Darius drilled her second three of the game to push the Orange up 11 (27-16) with four minutes left in the first half.
The last few minutes of the first half were certainly up-and-down. Clemson battled back with a 8-0 run of its own after Holland Harris knocked down back-to-back shots before Kohn converted on her three-point attempt. Phelia and Burrows would end the brief cold spell for Syracuse, who entered the locker room up 34-28.
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Burrows led the way with eight points, a career-high 11 rebounds and two steals, while Phelia had seven and Darius plus Uche had six each. Kohn had six, with seven Tigers players in total scoring at least one basket in the first half.
Clemson would have the upper hand to start the third quarter.
The Orange came out of halftime shooting just 1/8 from the field, with the only basket coming from Phelia. Moore drove by Burrows for a layup, then Raven Thompson scored over multiple defenders to make it a one-possession game again. Phelia would keep the Orange ahead thanks to this tough layup, which was soon followed by an and-one score from Izoje to keep the Tigers at bay.
Phelia would score eight of the Orange’s first points 11 points in the quarter. Clemson continued to hang around thanks to a couple jumpers from Johnson-Matthews and another three from Kohn, but despite shooting 35% (6/17) in the period, Syracuse still maintained a five-point lead (53-48) heading into the game’s final 10 minutes.
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That said, another cold start would see Clemson grab its first lead all game. Moore converted on two driving layups, the second of which would put the Orange down one (54-53) and cap off a 7-0 run. During this stretch, Syracuse went over three minutes without any points and 0/6 from the field. A much-needed three by Burrows got the Orange back ahead. She followed that up with another score to put Syracuse ahead again by four.
From there as the final minutes of the quarter continued, both teams continued to exchange baskets. With Syracuse still up by two baskets, Moore would score again with under a minute left to trim Syracuse’s lead down to two, then Darius would turn it over with 14 seconds to go.
On its final possession coming out of a timeout, Hinds missed the game-tying shot. Shortly after, Shy Hawkins came in clutch by making her two free throws late to bring the Orange back up four with just seconds to go and effectively sealing the win for ‘Cuse.
Syracuse returns to the court Sunday for another tough ACC test, this time on the road against the NC State Wolfpack (17-7, 10-3).
