WBB: Syracuse Tops Wake Forest on Senior Night

By Noah Wolfe

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The Syracuse women’s basketball team defeated Wake Forest 85 to 64 on Senior Night in the Carrier Dome.  The win marks the 10th time the Orange won at home by 20 or more points.

The victory is also Syracuse’s 10th ACC win, placing the team securely in the sixth slot of the conference.

“The goal [tonight] was to get the 10th win,” said head coach Quentin Hillsman. “It was a big night for us to get number 10. At the end of the day, we want to send our seniors out with a win at home and we did that. Overall, just happy with winning the basketball game.”

After an emotional pregame ceremony, the Orange got off to a hot offensive start, notching 27 points in the first quarter of play.  The team would not look back from there, outscoring the Demon Deacons 58 to 46 the rest of the way.

On the defensive end, Syracuse was dominant.  The Orange forced 25 turnovers, and capitalized off of those opportunities, coming away with 29 points off them in the contest.

The SU seniors also played exeptionally well, combining for 68 of the team’s 85 points.

Alexis Peterson put up a signature performance, finishing her night with 25 points, five assists and four steals.  The Ohio native has scored in double figures in every game this season.

After falling hard on her ankle at the end of the first half, Brittney Sykes returned to action, coming away with 16 points, nine rebounds and three steals over a team leading 35 minutes.

Meanwhile, Briana Day logged her eighth double double on the season with 17 points and 15 boards,  extending her position atop SU’s all-time leading rebounding list.

The Orange will conclude its regular season with a road matchup against Pitt on Sunday Feb. 26.  Tipoff is slated for 2 PM.  Five days later, the team heads to Myrtle Beach S.C. for the ACC tournament, where it is projected as the sixth seed.