SU women’s basketball wins over Wake Forest with fourth quarter burst
SU women's basketball wins over Wake Forest
The Orange women’s basketball team was able to honor its seniors with a 77-57 win over Wake Forest on Senior Day in the Carrier Dome.
Syracuse started this game hot with a 9-2 run after making three three-pointers in the team’s first three possessions. A three from Isis Young put the Orange up 10.
A shot from behind-the-arc by Alex Sharp of the Demon Deacons energized her team’s offensive, and a layup from Raegyn Branch cut the Orange lead to just five late in the first quarter. In the final seconds, Tiana Mangakahia launched a pass to Gabrielle Cooper who made the lead 19-12.
Wake Forest started to slowly chip away at the Syracuse lead in the second quarter after Gina Conti made a three as the shot clock expired. A few minutes later, Lindsey Jarosinski made a layup that tied the game for the first and only time in this game. Threes from both Kiara Lewis and Mangakahia put the Orange lead back out to six, and a long three from Miranda Drummond extended the lead to nine points going into the locker room.
Coming out of the half, Mangakahia hit two three-pointers in the first two minutes. This quarter was the lowest scoring one for Syracuse in the game after an explosive first half. Despite that, the third was filled with no-look passes from Lewis and big blocks from Emily Engstler. In this slower quarter, the Orange were outscored by the Deacon Demons 16-14 behind the play of Maya Banks.
The final quarter is where Syracuse really put this game away, scoring 24 points and pushing their lead to 20. A three from Digna Strautmane was the turning point of this game. Once she made the shot and extended the scoring run, Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman started to get some of his seniors off the bench and into the game. Seniors Raven Fox and Brandi Fowler each came in for six minutes; Fox sank a bucket and Fowler came away with an assist.
The leading scorer for the Orange was redshirt senior Miranda Drummond who finished with 17 points and five threes. Coming off a broken hand in January, Sharp for Wake Forest had a big comeback with 17 points as well. The forward kept her team in the game for much of the first half with her three-pointers and assists.
Mangakahia finished her game with 15 points and nine assists and zero turnovers.
The next game for the Orange is at 7 p.m. Thursday against Pitt in the Dome. In the Jan. 17 matchup between the teams in the Petersen Events Center, Syracuse came away with an 82-50 victory.
is a Broadcast and Digital Journalism senior and sports reporter for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
