Women’s Basketball Defeats Maryland Eastern Shore 68-45

By Brittany Ehrlich

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Although Syracuse beat Maryland Eastern Shore 68-45, the Orange’s offense didn’t pick up until the second half.

Syracuse went 12-36 in the first half and 4-23 from the three-point line.

In the second half, Syracuse settled in and went 12-26. The offense still was missing a lot of shots, but the defense stepped up with the press.

“We got them messed up in the second half,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We were good at keeping them in front of us.”

Syracuse only had 10 steals on the game but according to Hillsman, “we didn’t get the steals, but we got the pace up.”

Point guard Tiana Mangakahia was a big component of the second half turn around.

Mangakahia went 7-17, but had eight turnovers.

“She can’t turn over the ball like that,” Hillsman said. “She has to take care of the ball and make better decisions. She had the ball for over 34 minutes. That’s a long time. She did a good job in the second half.”

Mangakahia believes her team’s effort in the second half had to do with the poor performance in the first.

“We had a little more energy in the third quarter knowing we had turnovers, knowing we had to take care of the ball,” Mangakahia said. “We weren’t making shots. We have to make sure on defense we make stops.”

The first-year point guard also believes her team was good at penetrating on defense and not getting beat.

Mangakahia sat out two years after transfer problems, but has international experience playing for Australia in the FIBA World Cup. She has had the start for Syracuse in both games this season and averages 34 minutes per game and 11 points per game.

Against Maryland Eastern Shore, the Orange conceded only 14 points in the second half.

“We didn’t get the steals, but we got the pace up,” Hillsman said.

One bright side on the night was Miranda Drummond, who led the team with 19 points.

Drummond said whenever she makes a shot, it gets her confidence going for the next one and so on.

Drummond also had her teammates to thank for her performance, including Mangakahia who distributed the ball out to her when she was open.

After sitting transferring from St. Bonaventure and sitting out a year, Drummond is fully prepared to take on her role at Syracuse.

“I’m trying to do whatever I can,” Drummond said.

The Orange’s next game is Monday, November 20^th against Hartford. The Hawks are currently 0-2 on the season and look for their first win of the season. Hartford is in the America East Conference.