Complete Performance Leads No. 15/14 Orange Past Niagara on School Day

Monday, December 17

Syracuse, N.Y.

11 AM

Syracuse University

Niagara

Complete Performance Leads No. 15/14 Orange Past Niagara on School Day

12/17/2018 1:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orange had the Carrier Dome rocking.

In front of a season-high crowd of 6,093, the No. 15/14th-ranked Syracuse women's basketball team dominated in all facets of the game and ran past Niagara, 94-45, on Monday, Dec. 17. The Orange improve to 9-2 overall with the victory.

Our largest crowd of the season and third-highest attended game in program history definitely had the Dome rockin' today! pic.twitter.com/YqJdy8R1R5
— 'Cuse Women's Hoops (@CuseWBB) December 17, 2018

"Obviously it was a good day for our team," 13th-year Head Coach Quentin Hillsman said. "I thought we did a really good job of playing fast and getting down the court in transition. We really want to get the ball off the glass or out of the net. Just really push the tempo and put pressure on the paint. I thought our players did a really good job of advancing the ball in transition and pushing the ball hard down the floor."

Niagara (3-7) had no answer for Syracuse's speed, size and hustle from the very start. Syracuse held the lead for all but 10 seconds, and five Orange shooters finished with double-digit point totals.

Led by guard Miranda Drummond's hot hand, the Orange hit five three-pointers in the first quarter and went up by as much as 17, finishing the period with a 25-10 lead. The lead grew to as much as 30 points with a little over a minute remaining in the second quarter, and Syracuse would enter the intermission ahead 52-25.

Syracuse defensive prowess was on full display in the first two quarters. The Orange came up with seven steals and three blocks, forcing the Purple Eagles to commit 16 turnovers in the first half alone.

Drummond finished the opening half with 16 points, connecting on 4-of-8 three-point attempts, to lead all scorers, while guard Tiana Mangakahia picked apart Niagara's interior defense with nine assists. Center Amaya Finklea-Guity and forwards Digna Strautmane and Emily Engstler, meanwhile, had their way down in the paint, combining for 23 points and 11 rebounds.

The second half was no different than the first. Syracuse outplayed Niagara the rest of the way, building a 53-point lead midway through the fourth quarter before securing the 49-point victory.

Drummond finished with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-11 shooting (54.5 percent) and hit five three-pointers. She recorded a new career high with five steals.

Mangakahia tallied eight points and a season-high 15 assists. She was the driving force behind a historic passing total, as the Orange dished out 31 assists as a team, a new program record. The previous school record was 30, which came against St. Francis in 2011.

Engstler, meanwhile, put together the best performance of her collegiate career, scoring a career-high 16 points to go along with nine rebounds. She set also new career highs in assists (4) and blocks (4) and matched her personal-best in steals (4).

Strautmane finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, while Finklea-Guity scored 11. Forward Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi scored 10 points, her sixth double-digit scoring effort of the season.

Syracuse next heads to St. Petersburg, Fla., to participate in the St. Pete Shootout. The Orange play Duquense at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21 before taking on host UCF at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 22.