Syracuse 72 - Nebraska 69: Orange Get NCAA Tourney Rematch With South Carolina

Syracuse Orange basketball has a post-season in 2015 victory, finally.

The 8-seed Orange outlasted the 9-seed Nebraska Cornhuskers in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Women's Tournament, earning a 72-69 victory and a re-match with the 1-seed South Carolina Gamecocks. SU lost a close game to USC in November.

It's the second NCAA win in the history of the program, the first coming last season in the same round.

As she has all season, Alexis Peterson led the Orange in scoring with 24 points. Cornelia Fondren added 18 and Brianna Butler scored 17, including a couple clutch baskets late that helped seal the deal and fend off the pesky Huskers.

It was a back-and-forth contest throughout with double-digit lead changes. Neither team was ever allowed to get too much of an advantage on the scoreboard and most of the second half saw the game knotted or within a couple points. The Orange finished the game shooting 40.6% to Nebraska's 43.1%, though they made up the difference in total chances.

South Carolina defeated 16-seed Savannah State earlier in the day, 81-48.

The Orange and Gamecocks will now play once again on Sunday around 7:00 p.m.