#7 Louisville Outlasts Syracuse 62-58 in Conference Opener

Sunday, December 29

Louisville, KY

2 pm

Syracuse University

6-6,0-1ACC

Louisville

12-1,1-0ACC

Syracuse

Louisville

#7 Louisville Outlasts Syracuse 62-58 in Conference Opener

12/29/2019 4:18:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Syracuse (6-6, 0-1 ACC) took No. 7 Louisville (12-1, 1-0 ACC) down to the wire but lost, 62-58, on the road in the Orange's Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opener Sunday afternoon in Louisville, Ky. Sophomore Emily Engstler (nine points, 13 rebounds) was a point away from her seventh double-double of the year. Freshman Teisha Hyman scored 12 points over 21 minutes, hitting the 50-point mark of her career. Syracuse is back in action Jan. 2 when No. 8 Florida State comes to the Carrier Dome.

"We had young-team mistakes today," head coach Quentin Hillsman said. "Those are things we have to get better at and correct, because good teams are going to make you pay. It's always tough to play here. They get a great crowd and have great atmosphere for women's basketball so we have to give them a lot of credit, but that's our schedule. We're going to continue to play hard and at some point we're going to turn this corner and start winning all these games that we're leaving on the board.

Of Note:

Engstler hit the 250 point mark of her Syracuse career with her first jumper of the day.
Hyman put up 12 points in 16 minutes, including three treys in the fourth, to hit the 50 point mark of her Orange career partway through the final quarter.
Kiara Lewis led the Syracuse offense with 14 points while Engstler and Hyman were right behind her. Lewis is 16 points away from 500 career points.
Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi scored eight points today. She's now just one jumper away from the 400 point mark of her career.
Amaya Finklea-Guity scored four points. She's now one away from her 500th career point.
Louisville's Jazmine Jones recorded 24 points in 35 minutes, going 8-for-12 from the field and 7-for-8 from the charity stripe.

How it happened:

Syracuse opened with a 10-4 run that was built off Digna Strautmane and Kiara Lewis scoring six and four points, respectively. The Cards then used a 8-0 run to get back in the game and take a two point lead to make it 12-10 midway through the opening quarter. 'Cuse and Louisville then went back and forth for the remainder of the opening stanza, the Orange leading 20-19 after 10. Strautmane paced the Orange offense with eight points off two treys and a jumper.
Scoring in the second was limited for the first six and a half minutes, both sides putting up just five points in that span. The Cards then used a 7-0 run to go up 31-25 before Engstler sank a jumper to end the streak. A final trey from Engstler sent the Orange to the locker room trailing 31-30 after 20 minutes of play.
Engstler had seven points and 11 rebounds in the first half, making her just one three pointer away from her seventh double-double of the year. Louisville's Jones put up 18 points in 18 minutes, scoring 7-of-9 from the field and 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. Neither team led by more than six in the first half.
Louisville opened the third with a 5-0 run to go up 36-30 before some more point-for-point play made it 38-35 Cards. Another 5-0 run then gave Louisville its largest lead of the game as the Red and Black went up 43-35 halfway through the quarter. 'Cuse refused to sit back though and used a 6-0 run of its own to bring the contest back within five, 48-43, before a final Louisville jumper sent Syracuse into the fourth quarter trailing 50-43.
After a quiet start to the final stanza, Syracuse tied the game at 54 halfway through the fourth after Hyman hit three treys and Amaya Finklea-Guity tossed up a layup. A pair of jumpers then put 'Cuse up 58-57 before Louisville's Jones hit two from the charity stripe to put her side up 59-58. A final three points from Elizabeth Balogun in the final minute put Louisville up 62-58 and gave them the victory.

Up Next:
Syracuse returns home Jan. 2 to host No. 8 Florida State for School Night in the Carrier Dome. Tip off on the ACC Network is scheduled for 8 p.m. Tickets for the game start at $10 for adults and $5 for youth under 12.

Syracuse season tickets start at $75 and are available for sale by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) or at The Box Office at the Ensley Athletic Center. Limited Premium Courtside seats are still available and can be purchased by contacting a sales representative at 1-888-DOME-TIX.

To stay updated on the Syracuse Orange women's basketball team, follow @CuseWBB on Twitter and Instagram.