WBB: Syracuse Upsets #17 Duke

By Brittany Ehrlich

Syracuse (19-7, 7-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) women’s basketball was able to hold on in the final minute of the game beat No. 17 Duke (20-7, 9-5) by three.

It wasn’t looking good for the Orange as they were down nine with four minutes to go.

But just as it came back from a 21-point deficit last game against Wake Forrest, the Orange made another comeback.

“It wasn’t looking great but we knew what we needed to do in order to finish plays and that was just it… finish plays,” said Isis Young. “And so getting stops and rebounding and not letting them get offensive rebounds so we can go back down and score. And getting turnovers. We scored off two turnovers. Raven had a layup, T had a layup. Causing turnovers and then scoring was what we needed to do”

Syracuse caused the Blue Devils to turn over the ball 16 times.

Young had a great showing for the Orange with 16 points. She shot 6-10 and four of those shots were three-pointers.

Young’s 16 points mark a career-high for the transfer. She shot 50 percent from the field going 4-for-8 from behind the arc.

“We knew the game plan was we were going to get a lot of shots especially from the corners,” said Young. “I just wanted to knock them down. I didn’t want to miss and I did which happens. I got the ball in some great positions thanks to my team. It was pretty simple I do that game and game out. I knock down shots.”

One of those players who got Young the ball in great positions is Tiana Mangakahia. The nation’s assist leader had another big performance as she scored 19 and had eleven assits.

Mangakahia posted her 13th double-double of the season with a team-best 19 points and 11 assists. She added five rebounds and four steals in 38 minutes of action and scored the game-winning basket.

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman was proud once again of his team’s performance.

“It’s just about finishing,” said Hillsman. “And our players really finished the game tonight. I’ve got to give Duke a lot of credit in the third quarter. They were competitive and played really well. On a day when you hold a team like Duke to 16 points and 13 points in quarters, you are defensively doing a really good job. I thought out players competed at a tremendously high level tonight. We have every opportunity to lay down in this game.”

Syracuse’s next game is Monday Feb. 189th against Pittsburgh. The Orange head on the road to face the 10-16 Panthers.