Orange Loses to No. 1/2 South Carolina, 67-63

Friday, November 28

Freeport, Bahamas

8 p.m.

Syracuse University

4-1

#1/2 South Carolina

5-0

Syracuse

11/28/2014 11:21:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Syracuse owns a 50-35 advantage on the boards

FREEPORT, Bahamas – The No. 22 Syracuse University women's basketball team led with two minutes remaining in regulation, but could not pull off the upset against No. 1/2 South Carolina, losing 67-63 on Friday night in the 2014 Junkanoo Jam Lucaya Division championship game at St. George's High School Gymnasium.

"We had to make a decision on what we were going to do in this game," head coach Quentin Hillsman said. "Their post players are the best in the country. We had to pack our zone in and do a good job keeping them off the glass. The other things we had to do was get every loose ball and 50-50 ball. I thought we did a great job on the glass."

Despite a size disadvantage, Syracuse (4-1) controlled the boards against South Carolina (5-0). The Orange owned a 50-35 advantage on the glass. It marked the most rebounds Syracuse had pulled down in a single game during the 2014-15 season.

Sophomore center Briana Day continued her great play at the Junkanoo Jam. Day recorded her second straight double-double on 13 points and 17 rebounds. For her efforts, Day was named to All-Junkanoo Jam Team, joined by sophomore guard Alexis Peterson. Junior guard Brianna Butler led the team in scoring for the second time this year, tallying 18 points.

"Briana Day was tremendous tonight," added Hillsman. "Our game plan was to give them help. We were going to crash our forwards inside, get our guards rebounding. I thought they did a good job of doing that. Our game plan worked really well."

In its first game against the top-ranked team in the nation since Feb. 28, 2011 against Connecticut, Syracuse took it to its opponent early, building a sizeable first-half advantage. South Carolina led 10-3 at the 16:52 mark of the first half, before the Orange turned the table. Over the next eight minutes of play, Syracuse would go on a 24-5 run. Junior guard Cornelia Fondren had eight points during that run.

South Carolina would close the margin, going on a 12-0 run to take a 29-27 lead with 2:35 to play in the first half. Syracuse responded by closing out the half with a 6-2 run. Peterson hit a runner at the buzzer to give the Orange a 35-31 advantage at the half.

Out of the break, Syracuse held its momentum from its late run in the first half. The Orange led by 10 points with 6:43 remaining, but South Carolina would use an 11-0 run to take the game back.

A back and forth battle would ensue over the final three minutes of play. Day sank two free throws to give the squad a 61-60 lead with 2:06 remaining. It would be the final lead the Orange would hold, as South Carolina junior guard Asia Dozier would hit a 3-point field goal with 1:51 left and Syracuse would not be able to overcome the deficit.

The Syracuse University women's basketball team returns to the Carrier Dome for the first time since its season-opener when it takes on Vermont on Monday night. The game will begin at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel.