One Game Left: Syracuse Advances to NCAA Championship!

Sunday, April 3

Indianapolis

8:30 p.m.

Syracuse University

30-7

RV/- Washington

26-11

WASHINGTON

Syracuse

One Game Left: Syracuse Advances to NCAA Championship!

4/3/2016 10:38:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Butler sets NCAA single season record for 3-pointers made

INDIANAPOLIS – The historic run is not yet over.

The No. 14/15 Syracuse women's basketball team danced its way to the NCAA Tournament final with a dominant 80-59 victory over Washington on Sunday night to put the program one win away from its first national title. The Orange, which had never previously reached a Sweet 16 prior to this season, will square off with No. 1/1 Connecticut for a national championship on Tuesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse at 8:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.

The Orange (30-7) led by as many as 24 points in the historic victory over the Huskies (26-11), propelling Syracuse to stand as one of the last two teams still playing. Syracuse's win marks the first 30-win season in program history and gives the 2016 senior class 99 wins for their careers.

Senior guard Brianna Butler hit a milestone of her own, setting the NCAA single-season record for 3-pointers with 128 on the season. She sunk four of Syracuse's Final Four-record 12 long balls on the night, finishing with 12 points in the win. Junior center Briana Day set the program record for rebounds in an NCAA tournament game with 15 in the win.

As she has in every NCAA Tournament game thus far, junior guard Alexis Peterson led the team with 18 points and six assists, with redshirt junior guard Brittney Sykes adding 17 of her own.

Junior forward Isabella Slim dropped in a triple for the first points of the game, before Sykes got hot and notched 7 points in the first eight minutes of play. Senior guard Cornelia Fondren knocked down a jumper as the clock ticked out in the first, sending the Orange into the second quarter with a strong 23-12 lead.

Fondren finished the night in double figures as well with 10 points, adding seven rebounds.

Peterson opened the second quarter with a lay-up off a steal from senior guard Maggie Morrison, pushing the Orange lead to 13 at 25-12. Syracuse has forced at least 18 turnovers in every game of its tournament run, capitalizing 20 points off turnovers tonight.

Syracuse continued its run early in the second as Butler hit her first triple of the contest at 7:49, extending the lead to 15. Taylor Ford dropped back and hit two, three-pointers, forcing the Huskies to call a timeout as Syracuse took a 36-18 lead with 5:25 on the clock in the first half.

Washington went on a run with Talia Walton putting up 19 points in the first half, including a perfect 5-for-5 from behind the arc, but Briana Day put up two points to stop the Huskies' run and the Orange went into the locker room at half with the 43-31 advantage.

Syracuse came out ready to play in the second half, Peterson knocking down another triple out of the gate. Butler knocked down her third triple of the game at 4:48 in the third quarter, putting the Orange up 57-41. Peterson notched five more points later in the period, entering the final 10 minutes of play with a 19-point lead, 67-48.

The Huskies pulled within 13 with 5:37 to play but Sykes and Butler answered with back-to-back triples, keeping the Orange up 78-59.

The Syracuse bench came up huge on the night, outscoring Washington's 23-3.

For the latest news on the Syracuse women's basketball program, follow /SyracuseWBB on Facebook, @CuseWBB on Instagram, and @CuseWBB on Twitter.

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