Orange Tames Tigers to Advance to ACC Quarters

Thursday, March 6

Greensboro, N.C.

11 a.m.

Syracuse University

22-8, 10-6ACC

Clemson

13-19, 4-12ACC

Clemson

Syracuse

Photo by: Tim Cowie

3/6/2014 1:56:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Syracuse gets 26 bench points to win its first ACC Tournament game.

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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Behind its most balanced scoring effort of the season, Syracuse women's basketball won its first-ever ACC Tournament game, 63-53, vs. Clemson (13-19) on Thursday at the Greensboro Coliseum. The fifth-seeded Orange (22-8) advances to play No. 4 seed NC State (24-6) in the quarterfinals on Friday at 11 a.m.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Syracuse leading scorers Brittney Sykes (17.1 ppg) and Brianna Butler (15.0 ppg) combined for 19 of the team's 33 second-half points to lead the Orange to victory. That came after SU scored 18 of its 30 points off the bench in the first half, led by La'Shay Taft's three 3-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.

Sykes' 10 points led the Orange, while Butler, Taft and point guard Rachel Coffey all added nine each. The Tigers were led by 15 points each from Nikki Dixon and Nyilah Jamison-Myers.

Butler and Sykes each got their first points early in the second half. Butler hit a 3-pointer at the 18:19 mark to give SU a 33-29 lead, and Sykes followed with a pair of free throws at the 17:40 mark to make it 35-29.

Syracuse took the largest lead of the game by either side to that point on a Coffey 3-pointer with 16:02 to go, making it 38-31.

Syracuse took control in the second half when it used a 12-2 run between the 10:16 and 6:14 marks to take a 56-43 lead. Sykes scored six points in the run, while Butler capped it off a jumper.

The Tigers would draw no closer than 10 points the rest of the way as layups by Sykes at the 2:10 mark and Briana Day with 49 seconds left kept SU's lead comfortable.

The Orange shot 39.7 percent overall, including 7-of-24 from 3-point range, while Clemson shot at 42.9 percent clip and was 2-of-12 from behind the arc.

Controlling the glass was crucial for Syracuse, as it used a 36-29 rebounding edge, including 17 offensive boards, to hold a 22-10 advantage in second chance points. Briana Day led the effort on the boards with a game-high eight.

Syracuse finished the game with a 26-6 advantage in bench points.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair with 10 lead changes. Despite both its leading scorers, Sykes (17.1 ppg) and Butler (15.0 ppg) being held scoreless, Syracuse took a 30-27 lead into halftime.

Taft provided an early spark off the bench for the Orange, hitting 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give SU a 13-11 lead seven minutes in. She closed the first-half scoring for the Orange with her third 3-pointer in four attempts.

Taft's nine points led Syracuse in the first half, while Shakeya Leary added six. Clemson was paced by six each from Chancie Dunn and Quinyotta Pettaway.

Friday's quarterfinal game against the Wolfpack will be televised live on the ACC Regional Sports Network.