Defense Lifts Orange to ACC Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 5

Greensboro, N.C.

2 PM

Syracuse University

16-14,9-9ACC

Virginia

13-17,8-10ACC

Virginia

Syracuse

3/5/2020 4:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights Press Conference

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Syracuse led for the final 27 minutes of the game and allowed just three points in the fourth quarter, beating Virginia 67-50 to advance to the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament for the second-straight year.

The Orange forced 26 turnovers and blocked 10 shots, while holding Virginia to 50 points, tying a season low for the Cavaliers. Syracuse had five players in double-figures, Amaya Finklea-Guity (15), Gabrielle Cooper (13), Emily Engstler (13), Kiara Lewis (11) and Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi (10).

Of Note:

Syracuse forced 26 turnovers, Virginia's most turnovers all season. The Orange's 30 points off turnovers were the most the Cavaliers surrendered this season.
Syracuse held Virginia to three points in the fourth quarter, the least amount of points the Orange have given up in a quarter all season. The Orange outscored the Cavaliers 14-3 in the final frame.
This was Gabrielle Cooper's 125th start, the sixth most games started in program history. She moved into sole possession of 23rd on the SU all-time scoring list with 13 points today. Cooper became the 24th player in program history to score 1,100 career points with a made layup in the second quarter.
Amaya Finklea-Guity scored a season high 15 points, just three away from her career high.
Emily Engstler had 7 rebounds in the first half. Her seventh and final board tied Chandrea Jones for the 8th most rebounds (281) in a season by a Syracuse player.
Digna Strautmane reached 900 career points with a three-pointer in the fourth quarter. She finished with 3 points and seven blocks, a career high and the most blocks in a game by any Syracuse player this season and in any ACC Tournament game in program history.
The Orange's 10 blocks tied a season high and broke a Syracuse record for blocks in an ACC Tournament game.

How it Happened:

The Orange came out of the gates hot with a couple early 3-pointers by Cooper and Engstler. An 8-0 run by the Cavaliers gave them a four point lead at 16-12. The run was halted by an Finklea-Guity three-point play. The junior led all scorers with nine points after 10 minutes. Kiara Lewis had an and-1 of her own to tie the game at 18 with just more than 2 minutes to go in the first. Finklea-Guity's fourth field goal on the next trip down gave the Orange a 20-18 lead they would hold onto to close out the first frame.
Syracuse opened the second stanza with a 10-4 run, thanks in large part to two consecutive Engstler 3-pointers. Dominique Toussaint gave Virginia a much-needed triple to end the run at the halfway mark of the second quarter. After another Engstler jumper and two steals leading to layups, the Orange grabbed their biggest lead of the half, going up 36-27. The teams traded buckets before the Cavaliers scored on back-to-back possessions in the last minute of the first half, cutting the 'Cuse lead to 38-33 at the break.
Engstler paced the Syracuse offense with 11 first half points, adding seven rebounds. She was the only player in double figures before the break. The Orange had 19 points off turnovers in the half, as Cooper tied her season high with three steals.
Virginia cut the lead to three in the third quarter, but Cooper's second 3-pointer of the game gave the Orange a two-possession advantage at the halfway mark of the period. Djaldi-Tabdi scored four straight points in the last three minutes of the third, but a Toussaint layup right before the buzzer kept the Orange lead at six with one quarter to play.
Djaldi-Tabdi's scoring run extended in the fourth, as the redshirt sophomore went on an 8-0 run herself. After both teams traded three-pointers, Finklea-Guity tied her season high to give the Orange its biggest lead 60-50. The Orange held the Cavaliers scoreless for the final 7:30 of the fourth quarter, which included a 9-0 run to close out the game 67-50.

Up Next:

Syracuse will face No. 1 seed Louisville Friday at 2 p.m. at the Greensboro Coliseum. The winner will play the winner of No. 4 Florida State and No. 13 Wake Forest on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ACC RSN (YES Network in Syracuse).