'Cuse Downs BC for First ACC Road Win

Sunday, January 28

Chestnut Hill, Mass.

1:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

17-5 (5-4ACC)

Boston College

6-15 (1-7ACC)

Syracuse

Boston College

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

1/28/2018 5:39:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Syracuse University freshman Digna Strautmane scored a career-high 25 points in the Orange's 75-57 road win over Boston College on Sunday afternoon. The Latvia native led all scorers shooting 10-for-16 from the field and 5-for-9 from 3-point range, both career bests. Syracuse improves to 17-5 overall and 5-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference earning its first ACC road victory of the season. Boston College slides to 6-15 overall and 1-7 in the league with its sixth-straight loss.

HOW IT WAS DECIDED
Syracuse jumped out to an early lead and never turned back. Strautmane hit the first trey of the game at 6:49 in the first quarter to put 'Cuse ahead by six, 12-6. The Orange led by 11 with under three minutes to play in the frame but Boston College closed the quarter on an 8-0 run to trail by three, 19-16, at the horn.

A 14-4 run capped by a Gabrielle Cooper 3-pointer gave 'Cuse an 11-point lead again by the 4:28 mark in the second stanza. The Orange shot 45.5 percent from downtown in the quarter to lead 40-26 at halftime. Through the opening 20 minutes, neither team recorded a point from its bench while Syracuse out-rebounded the Eagles 23-15 with 10 offensive rebounds. The Orange made seven 3-pointers in the half and held BC to 0-for-8 on attempts from downtown.

With 5:33 on the clock in the third the Eagles made their first 3-pointer of the game cutting 'Cuse's lead to 14, 49-35. The Orange responded with a 14-3 run to lead by its biggest margin, 25 points, with 30 seconds to go in the third quarter but Milan Bolden-Morris hit a trey at the buzzer to make it 63-41 at the end of the period.

Boston College began the final quarter on a 13-4 run and trailed by 15, 69-54, with 4:16 to play. The Orange were plagued by turnovers in the fourth quarter but back-to-back layups by Tiana Mangakahia and Marisa Romeo halted the scoring drought for the Orange with a minute to play. Syracuse held on for an 18-point win.

OF NOTE
Strautmane tallied career highs in points (25), field goals (10) and 3-point field goals (5) in the win. Her 25 points mark the first 20-point game of her career with the Orange.

Syracuse earned its 28th win in program history over Boston College and picked up its first ACC road win of the season.

Q's THOUGHTS
"We wanted to win the game," said head coach Quentin Hillsman. "That was the most important thing. I thought we did a good job being aggressive and sticking to our game plan."

UP NEXT
The Orange return home for a pair of games this week. First, Coach Hillsman and the Orange will look to improve to 12-0 at home this season on Thursday, Feb. 1, when they host Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome. They will return to the Dome to face their fourth top-5 opponent of the season when Louisville comes to town Sunday, Feb. 4, at 1 p.m. Both games can be streamed on ACC Network Extra.

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