Syracuse women’s basketball routs Colgate, 79-39 for ninth straight win

(Note: Play the video below while reading for an enhanced experience. It’s almost like you were actually there. For anyone under the age of 25, THIS IS WHAT REAL ENTERTAINMENT SOUNDS LIKE.)

All good things must come to an end, right?

No, the No. 24 Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team didn’t lose.

Orange point guard Tiana Mangakahia’s streak of seven consecutive double-doubles came to an end. She was one assist shy of completing the feat for an eighth straight time. She finished with 13 points and nine assists in a team-high 28 minutes.

After surviving an overtime scare versus Stony Brook on Sunday, Syracuse did everything it could to prevent another sticky situation from developing. They beat Colgate in a blow-out fashion, 79-39, and kept the perfect season rolling to 9-0.

“When we get ahead like that, it feels really good,” Mangakahia said. “When they start to score, we need to lock up and play defense.”

Syracuse did that on Wednesday. Curly Neal and Sweet Lou weren’t on the court, but they might as well have been.

‘Cuse began the game on the right note once again. Digna Strautmane fouled out and saw little action in the Orange’s previous matchup against Stony Brook, but she was an early point of emphasis for Coach Q’s offense on Wednesday.

“The last game was a good lesson for us,” Strautmane said. “We understood how it can be, and we didn’t want to make the same mistakes.”

Strautmane accounted for seven of Syracuse’s first nine points before Colgate called its first timeout with 6:13 to play in the first quarter. Miranda Drummond accounted for the other bucket.

“Digna’s a good player,” Coach Q said after the game. “She has nights that are not super unproductive for us… She adds really good balance to our team.”

The Orange stormed off to a 27-10 lead after the first quarter on 52.4% shooting and did not look back.

The Orange went on a hot streak in the second quarter, outscoring the Raiders 14-4 over the first 6:40. Colgate only mustered six points throughout the whole quarter and the Orange led 51-16 at the half.

Colgate went on an 11-5 run through the first 7:00 of the third, but it did not spark anything hot enough to surmount the 35-point lead the Orange built going into halftime.

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“I was just really happy with the overall effort from our team,” Coach Q added. “We were very aggressive. We tried to press tempo. We tried for 75 or 80 possessions, and we got 73 possessions… We were able to get players out of the game. Just a really clean game from our team.”

Scoring was a combined effort for Syracuse. Miranda Drummond paced the Orange with 18 points and nine rebounds on 7-of-10 shooting. Isis Young added 12 off the bench for the Orange.

“We were able to move the ball and get open shots,” Coach Q continued. “That’s the big thing for us – to get open threes..”

Syracuse led for all-but 16 seconds of this game. The only lead Colgate held was 3-0 to start the game. The Orange shot a stout 42.5% from the field and they made 13-of-38 three-pointers.

Nia Ahart led Colgate with 9 points on 3-of-5 shooting.

What’s Next

Syracuse (9-0) will host Drexel (5-3) on Saturday. Tip is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.

Syracuse has four nonconference games left on its schedule before launching into ACC conference play on December 28 at Notre Dame. One of those contests includes a duel in the desert versus Mississippi State – the current No. 6 team in the country.

Follow the Author

Corey Crisan is the Orange Women’s Basketball reporter for TNIAAM. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @cdcrisan for coverage all season long.