Syracuse women’s basketball goes ice cold in the fourth, falls to Virginia Tech

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team shot a measly 30% from the field, including 18% from beyond the three-point arc, in its first clash with Virginia Tech back on February 1. That was not the case in the first half on Thursday in the first round of the ACC Tournament.

As for the second half, talk about deja vu.

Virginia Tech used a 33-5 scoring run that began with under two minutes left in the third quarter to earn a come-from-behind 85-70 win.

It wasn’t as bad as the first time around, but Syracuse ended the day shooting 36% from the field and 25% from three-point range.

Hot Start

After a close first quarter, Syracuse held a three-point lead due to a few big shots from reserve Isis Young. The Orange sixth (wo)man netted five points on a perfect 2-for-2 shooting, including a “shooter’s roll” three pointer that gave Syracuse an 18-13 lead at the time. Syracuse shot 53% in the first quarter. Forward Digna Strautmane led the way with eight points after one.

Syracuse began to pull away slightly in the second quarter. Virginia Tech shot just 24% from the field in the quarter, compared to Syracuse’s 47%. The Hokies were also blanked on three-point field goals (0-for-9) in the quarter. Syracuse’s margin at half was up to 14 points.

The second half was completely different for Syracuse. Again, shades of February 1.

Cold Finish

VT’s Taylor Emery led all scorers with 28 points on Thursday. She began the scoring in the third with a three pointer. Syracuse led by as many as 16 points in the third before going silent.

Virginia Tech climbed back to within 10 at the 3:45 mark in the third as Michelle berry made a jumper. Syracuse fought back to regain a 13-point lead as Raven Fox made a three with 1:54 to play in the third.

Everything changed from that point.

Emery made a layup with 56 seconds remaining in the third to maintain a 9-point hokie deficit after three. Syracuse led, 65-56.

A fair of Rachel Camp free throws cut VT’s deficit to seven with 9:50 to play. After a Syracuse turnover and missed jumper from Strautmane, Tech’s Aisha Sheppard made a three pointer to cut Syracuse’s lead to 65-61.

Mangakahia missed a layup, and Tech followed with another three to cut the Hokie deficit to one. From there, it was all Hokies — literally.

A rundown of Virginia Tech’s 31-5 fourth quarter:

• Syracuse shot 0-for-16 from the field.
• SU shot 0-for-10 from 3pt range.
• SU was held scoreless for the first 5:20 of the 4th. (Young FT)
• Virginia Tech shot 73% (8-for-11) and made four of five attempted 3pt shots
• VT out-rebounded SU defensively, 11-1.
• TV’s Taylor Emery scored 18 of her 28 points in the second half. Eleven were in the 4th.
• Syracuse was up by 14 at halftime. They lost by 15.

BOX SCORE

What’s Next

Syracuse (22-8, 10-7 ACC) will play the waiting game to determine where its next destination is. The Orange were projected as a No. 7 seed entering the tournament. That may be knocked back to a No. 8 seed after this loss, but we’ll find out on Monday March 12 when the field is selected.

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.