No. 15/14 Orange Down Duquesne in St. Pete Shootout Opener, Play UCF Saturday

Friday, December 21

St. Petersburg, Fla.

7:30 PM

Syracuse University

10-2

Duquesne

5-5

Duquesne

Syracuse

No. 15/14 Orange Down Duquesne in St. Pete Shootout Opener, Play UCF Saturday

12/21/2018 9:30:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

UPDATED 12/22/18 at 8:54 AM
The No. 15/14 Orange will face Central Florida (UCF) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday night in the final game of the St. Pete Shootout on the campus of Eckerd College. The Orange and Knights both won their Friday night games in the Sunshine State with the Orange dominating Duquesne 87-71, and UCF earning a 53-45 win over Liberty to improve to 10-1 on the season. Syracuse leads the all-time series with the Knights 1-0 but head coaches Quentin Hillsman and Katie Abrahamson-Henderson are no strangers. Abrahamson-Henderson took Albany to five NCAA Tournaments during her tenure with the Great Danes from 2010-16. She is 0-2 all-time against Syracuse and the Orange.

Tip-off between 'Cuse and UCF is set for 7:30 p.m. Fans can listen live beginning at 7:15 p.m. There will be no live video for Saturday night's game.

LISTEN | LIVE STATS | GAME NOTES (PDF)

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - No. 15/14 Syracuse rolled past Duquesne in convincing fashion in the opening game of the St. Pete Shootout Friday night. Six shooters, led by guard Tiana Mangakahia's game-high 20 points, finished with double-digit point totals, as the Orange picked up their fourth victory in a row, winning 87-71.

Syracuse moves to 10-2 overall with the victory and remains undefeated (4-0) in the all-time series with Duquesne.

The Orange won the game in the first quarter. Syracuse outscored the Dukes, 27-14, in the opening period to take complete control of the contest, eventually entering the half with 45-30 lead.

Forward Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi was the catalyst behind the Orange's 15-point advantage. She scored 10 points across the first two quarters on 5-of-8 shooting while pulling down five rebounds. Forward Miranda Drummond, meanwhile, extended her streak of games with a made three-pointer to 23 in the first half, while Mangakahia scored seven and dished out two assists.

The second half was filled with more of the same. Mangakahia's hot hand carried the Orange through the third and fourth quarters, as she scored 13 in the second half of play. She was a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.

Guard Kiara Lewis had her touch working in the second half, as well. She scored eight of her 12 points in the final two periods and knocked down both of her three-point attempts. She finished the game 5-of-6 from the field and also pulled down three rebounds.

Mangakahia carded a game-high nine assists to go along with her 20 points. Djaldi-Tabdi finished with 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting with six rebounds, while Drummond had 10 points.

Guard Gabrielle Cooper and center Amaya Finklea-Guity were also in double digits with 10 points each. It's the first time Syracuse has had six shooters in double digits since versus Siena on Nov. 14, 2016.

The Orange continue the action at the St. Pete Shootout tomorrow. Syracuse plays UCF at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.