Syracuse beats DePaul on Tiana Mangakahia buzzer-beater

Tiana Mangakahia’s buzzer-beating layup gave the No. 14 Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team (6-1) a 83-81 victory over the No. 16 DePaul Blue Demons (3-2) in overtime on Saturday. With the win, Syracuse finished 3-0 on its trip to Mexico for the Cancun Challenge.

SU trailed 81-78 late in overtime, before Mangakahia hit a three to tie the game at 81 with 49 seconds left. On the ensuing possession DePaul drew a foul, but Chante Stonewall missed both free throws for the Blue Demons.

The Orange grabbed the rebound and immediately called a timeout. Coach Quentin Hillsman put the ball in the hands of his best player for the final possession.

Mangakahia penetrated into the lane, dribbled around a defender, and hit a difficult reverse-layup over the DePaul defender.

The team immediately ran to Mangakahia to celebrate the victory.
Mangakahia finished with 22 points, including 11 of the team’s 13 points in overtime. She also had 10 rebounds and six assists. After only scoring three points in the first half, Mangakahia scored 19 points in the second half and overtime.

Senior forward Miranda Drummond had 21 points, seven rebounds and went 5-of-11 from three-point range.

Junior guard Gabrielle Cooper recored a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

DePaul got 25 points and 14 rebounds from Stonewall, to lead the way. Kelly Campbell nearly had a triple-double for the Blue Demons, with 14 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists.

SU has now won five straight games after going 3-0 in Cancun. The win over No. 16 DePaul was the team’s second win over a top-20 opponent this season (Texas A&M). A 75-73 loss on the road against no. 3 Oregon, is the team’s only loss this the season.

The Orange (6-1) will travel to Minneapolis to face No. 23 Minnesota (5-0) in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge on Thurs. November 29.