'Cuse Rallies Past Clemson, 84-75

Thursday, January 23

Syracuse, N.Y.

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

14-5, 3-3

Clemson

9-11, 1-5

Clemson

Syracuse

1/23/2014 9:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y.— An 18-0 second-half run lifted the Syracuse women's basketball team (14-5, 3-3 ACC) past Clemson (9-11, 1-5 ACC), 84-75, on Thursday night at the Carrier Dome. Brittany Sykes scored 15 and Taylor Ford tallied 11 in the second stanza to aid in SU's comeback efforts.

Ford contributed 19 points and a career-high eight offensive boards while Sykes finished with 19 points. Shakeya Leary recorder her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds and Brianna Butler rounded out double digit scorers with 16 points.

"The second half was our kind of basketball," head coach Quentin Hillsman said. "We were a little sluggish early, but the last seven minutes was Syracuse basketball. We played really hard at that time and we really started to turn over a little bit. We did a really good job with our pressure."

The Orange shot 40 percent overall including 41.2 percent in the second half. Syracuse was more disruptive on defense in the second half, holding Clemson to 38.7 percent from the floor and just 20 percent from beyond the arc compared to its 66.7 percent overall performance in the first half.

Syracuse bested the Tigers in transition, outscoring Clemson 19-13 on fast breaks and 26-21 off of turnovers. Syracuse's 23 offensive rebounds gave the Orange 25 second-chance points and helped add to its 34 points in the paint.

Nikki Dixon caused the most trouble for the SU defense, totaling 21 points and going 3-of-6 from long range.

Clemson started the game going 5-of-5 from three-point range and shot 76.9 percent from the field over the first 9:13 and led by as much as 12 points but the Orange went on a 17-4 run at the end of the first half to cover its deficit and take its first lead since 13:59. Leary, Ford and Briana Day each had four points in the run, though the Tigers fired back with four points in the final 1:16 to go into halftime with a 45-42 lead.

The second half was back-and-forth and neither team led by more than six until Syracuse began to pull away with 7:13 left, going on an 18-0 run over the next 3:23. Briana Day started the SU spurt with a strong move inside and Rachel Coffey capped it with a leaping steal and a basket followed by one from long range.

The Orange shot 7-12 from the field during its 18-0 spurt, making up for a six-point deficit with 7:56 left in the contest. Syracuse maintained its advantage throughout the final minutes and came out with the 84-75 win.

The Orange is back in action on Sunday, Jan. 26 when Virginia travels to the Dome for a 2 p.m. tip, which will be televised on the ACC Regional Sports Network.