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The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team defeated the Clemson Tigers 84-75 on Thursday night. SU got off to a great start in conference play at 1-0, after earning a win led by big performances from Gabrielle Cooper and Miranda Drummond.
Cooper and Drummond were both on fire from three-point range. Cooper finished 7-of-12 and Drummond was 6-of-12 from beyond-the-arc. Drummond led the team with 23 points and Cooper was right behind her with 22. Syracuse lives and dies by the three-point shot and that was on display versus Clemson. As a team, the Orange were 16-of-38 from three-point range, as opposed to 1-of-8 by the Tigers.
Clemson’s leading scorer was guard Danielle Edwards, who had 24 points, while Kobi Thornton added 20 points and 12 rebounds. Thornton has been Clemson’s best player, averaging just over 16 points and eight rebounds this season.
Overall, tt was a very fast-paced matchup, and the pressure by both defenses led to many turnovers. SU had 21 turnovers and Clemson had 17 of their own. But every time Clemson was making a run and started closing the gap, Syracuse would hit a clutch three. Drummond had two four-point plays, where she was fouled shooting a three and still made the shot.
Tiana Mangakahia struggled most of the game, but she also hit two timely three-pointers to extend the SU lead late in the fourth quarter. She had a game-high seven turnovers, but did add eight assists and five rebounds to go along with her 13 points.
With the win, Syracuse is now 8-0 all-time versus Clemson.
The Orange improve to 12-2 (1-0) on the season and will travel to Blacksburg, Va. to face the Virginia Tech Hokies on Sunday, Jan 6. Tip-off for Sunday’s contest is set for 2 p.m. ET and can be heard on ACC Network Extra, or listened to on ESPN 97.7 FM.