Syracuse women’s basketball defeats Notre Dame, 81-69

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team (9-3, 6-3 ACC) defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish (8-7, 6-5 ACC) on Sunday, 81-69, to remain perfect at home with a 6-0 mark in the Carrier Dome. ‘Cuse outscored the Irish 23-4 in the fourth quarter. Tiana Mangakahia tallied a near triple-double with 19 points, 11 assists, and nine boards.

Kamilla Cardoso was also close to recording a triple-double with 18 points, a career-high nine blocks, and seven rebounds. Kiara Lewis (16 pts) and Priscilla Williams (11) also tallied double-figure scoring for the Orange.

Recap

Tiana Mangakahia, Kiara Lewis, Priscilla Williams, Digna Strautmane, and Kamilla Cardoso started for ‘Cuse.

Syracuse opened the contest with three’s from Mangakahia, Williams, and Lewis to lead 9-2 at 7:02. An 11-4 Irish run tied the game at 13-all at the four-minute mark. Notre Dame ended the first on another run, outscoring Syracuse 15-2 in the final minutes of the quarter to lead 28-15 into the second. The Orange went 6-20 from the field and 3-12 from three in the first.

Both teams were scoreless through the first four minutes of the second quarter. Lewis ended the Orange scoring drought with a three at 5:47, 30-18 UND. The drought was a 17-0 Irish run that dated back to 3:27 of the first quarter. Notre Dame grew its advantage to 15, 40-25, at the three-minute mark. UND held a 10-point lead into halftime, 44-34.

Syracuse shot 33.3 percent from the field and 26.1 percent from three, compared to Notre Dame’s 57.6 percent and 25 percent in the opening half. The Orange committed 11 turnovers and forced 10 UND turnovers. Cardoso led the team with seven points and six rebounds in the first half. Williams, Lewis, and Mangakahia also tallied six points each.

Five straight points from Mangakahia cut the Irish lead to single-digits, 49-41 UND, at 7:11 of the third quarter. A Lewis layup made it a two-possession game, 51-46, midway through the frame. The teams traded shots to end the third with a 65-58 UND lead into the final frame.

Mangakahia sunk her fifth trey of the game to make it a four-point contest, 65-61, at 8:23 of the fourth quarter. A three-point play from Cardoso kept the Orange within one, 65-64, at 7:12. A three from Lewis tied the game at 67-all midway through the frame. The three marked Lewis’ 1,000th career point. The tie score fired the Orange up, leading to a 9-0 run to give Syracuse its first lead since the first quarter, 76-69 at 2:41. Williams contributed five points in the run, while Cardoso had four. Cardoso also tallied two steals and a block in the run. The Orange hit five free throws to end the game and win 81-69. Notre Dame was held scoreless in the final 4:23 of the contest. Syracuse outscored UND 23-4 in the fourth quarter.

Stats

• Syracuse shot 38.9 percent from the field and 34.2 percent from three. UND shot 45.5 percent from the floor and 6-21 from three. The Orange dished out 23 assists on 28 shots. The team tallied 13 turnovers, two in the second half, and forced 18 Irish turnovers. Notre Dame got to the free throw line just four times, making three attempts. The Orange outrebounded the Irish 46-39 and outscored them in fast break points (23-16) and second chance points (20-9). The team recorded nine blocks, five in the fourth quarter, and 10 steals. The teams tied in points in the paint at 30-all.
• 13 of Mangakahia’s 19 points came in the second half. She shot 6-12 from the field and 5-10 from three. Five treys is a career-high for the Australian native.
• Lewis surpassed the 1,000 career points mark (at Syracuse). She also added two steals, four assists, and three rebounds.
• Cardoso surpassed the 100 career rebounds mark. The freshman also tallied two steals and shot 8-12 from the floor. Nine blocks are the most in program history since Kayla Alexander had nine in 2010.
• Williams also contributed four rebounds and three assists, while Strautmane added seven points and six rebounds.
• Engstler added eight points, eight rebounds, three steals, and three assists off the bench.
• Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi rounded out the scoring for the Orange with two points.
• Same Brunelle led the Irish with 19 points.

Takeaways

Positive: Everyone who played contributed to the win. It was a true team effort. Mangakahia, a pass-first point guard, finally had a big scoring game. Lewis and Engstler continued to be consistent contributors. The freshman duo of Williams and Cardoso balled out. All around, it was a great win for Syracuse.

Negative: Free-throws, again. The Orange went 12-19 from the line (.632) in Sunday’s game and are now shooting 64.3 percent on the season. That mark ranks last in the ACC. Who ranks first? No. 1 Louisville with 79.2 percent.

Next up, the Orange will travel to Georgia Tech on Tuesday, Feb. 2 at 7 p.m. EST. The game will air on ACCNX.