Bulls Comeback Tops #21/18 Orange, 68-66

Saturday, February 23

Tampa, Fla.

2:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

22-4, 10-3

USF

19-7, 8-5

Syracuse

USF

Kayla Alexander scored nine of her 11 points in the second half.

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

2/23/2013 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats

TAMPA - Akila McDonald's basket with 24 seconds left gave USF (19-7, 8-5) a 68-66 comeback victory over No. 21/18 Syracuse (22-4, 10-3) on Saturday afternoon at the USF Sun Dome. The Bulls erased a 13-point second-half Orange lead for the win.

USF's Andrea Smith led all scorers with 18 points and added nine rebounds. SU was led by Carmen Tyson-Thomas' 17 points, 15 of which came in the first half. Brittney Sykes added 12 points and eight boards, while Kayla Alexander scored nine of her 11 points in the second half. Rachel Coffey dished out six assists for the Orange.

A 15-0 Syracuse run that spanned the final 2:32 of the first half and the first 46 seconds of the second half gave the Orange the largest lead of the game by both sides, 13 points, 39-26, but the Bulls whittled away at its deficit.

Alisia Jenkins' jumper with 4:05 left made it a two-point game, 61-59, and she went to the line with 3:38 left and sank a pair of free throws to tie the game for the first time since the first half. Andrell Smith's 3-pointer with 1:46 left gave USF its first lead of the second half, 66-64.

After Carmen Tyson-Thomas scored on a layup with 41 second left to tie the game, 66-66, McDonald's bucket inside represented the game's final points. A Coffey driving attempt bounced out for the Orange 13 seconds left, and after a USF miss at the other end, Coffey's running 30-foot attempt rimmed out at the buzzer.

After going 10-of-11 at the free throw line in the first half, SU was 1-of-8 in the second half.

Syracuse shot 45.5 percent from the field, including 5-of-16 behind the arc, while USF shot 35.4 percent, including 11-of-28 from 3-point range. The Orange scored 21 points off 13 Bulls turnovers, but USF pulled down 17 offensive rebounds, leading to a 20-9 edge in second-chance points.

Tyson-Thomas' pull-up jumper in transition with 2:32 left in the half, erased a two-point USF lead and began a 13-0 SU run to end the first half. Tyson-Thomas scored 11 of the points of her game-high 15 first-half points, the final two coming on a layup just ahead of the buzzer, sending the Orange to the locker room with a 37-26 lead. Brianna Butler's jumper 13 seconds into the second half made SU's run 15-0 and the score 39-26.

The Orange jumped out to an early 7-0 lead, with Sykes scoring four and Elashier Hall contributing two, but after the Bulls came back to tie the game, 11-11, at the 15:21 mark, the teams would trade leads six times with neither side leading by more than five until SU went on its run to end the half.

Hall left the game with a leg injury with 2:13 remaining and did not return.

Syracuse concludes its BIG EAST road slate on Tuesday at No. 2 Notre Dame. The Orange and Fighting Irish will face off at 7 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.