Syracuse women’s basketball dominates Boston College, 92-75

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team (12-6, 9-6 ACC) is back in the win column after defeating Boston College Eagles (6-11, 2-11 ACC) on Thursday night, 92-75. The Orange are 8-0 at home this season.

Five of the Orange’s seven scorers tallied double-figures. Tiana Mangakahia led the team with 19 points. Freshman Priscilla Williams contributed her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Emily Engstler (18 pts), Kiara Lewis (14), and Digna Strautmane (10) also added double-digit scoring for ‘Cuse.

Recap

Tiana Mangakahia, Kiara Lewis, Priscilla Williams, Digna Strautmane, and Kamilla Cardoso started for the Orange.

Syracuse came out hot in its first home game since Feb. 4 (W vs. Wake Forest), creating a 10-0 advantage to start the contest. BC answered with a 16-10 run, closing in on the Orange’s four-point, 20-16 lead to end the first quarter. ‘Cuse had not scored at least 20 points in the opening frame since Jan. 28 against Pittsburgh (26).

Syracuse held an eight-point advantage of 31-23 midway through the second quarter. The Orange continued to produce on both sides of the floor, finishing the first half with a 43-31 edge. ‘Cuse outscored the Eagles 23-15 in the second frame.

The Orange shot 47.1% from the floor in the first half, compared to BC’s 29.4%. Both teams went 6-15 from three. Syracuse committed 11 turnovers and forced 14 Boston College mistakes. The Orange were able to convert 12 points off of BC’s turnovers, while holding the Eagles to just three points off their mistakes. Emily Engstler led the team with 11 points and four steals at halftime. Strautmane and Lewis also contributed seven points each in the opening 20 minutes.

A 12-1 run midway through the third quarter pushed Syracuse out to a 66-45 lead at 3:51. The Orange shot 68.8% from the field in the third frame to hold a comfortable 74-58 edge over the Eagles into the final 10 minutes of play.

BC came within 12 points of the Orange lead in the fourth, but was unable to string together a long run to overcome Syracuse.

Stats

• Syracuse shot 52.5% from the field, 33.3% from three, and 20-30 from the free throw line. Boston College shot 38%, 13-31 from three, and 8-11 from the free throw line.
• The Orange held the advantage in rebounds (41-37), turnovers (17-21), bench points (26-13), blocks (6-0), fast break points (13-12), points off turnovers (21-13), and points in the paint (48-22). The Eagles held the advantage in second chance points (23-15).
• Mangakahia shot 50% from the field, 2-5 from three, and 7-8 from the free throw line. She also added seven assists and two steals.
• Williams also shot 50% from the field, 2-5 from three, and 5-6 from the free throw line. The freshman also added two steals.
• Engstler tallied eight rebounds, four steals, three assists, and two blocks. She shot 7-14 from the field.
• Lewis also contributed four rebounds and an assist.
• Strautmane also added three rebounds and an assist.
• Cardoso tallied eight points, seven rebounds, and two blocks.
• Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi went 4-4 from the field for eight points. She also contributed five assists, two blocks, and two rebounds.
• Taylor Soule led the Eagles with 23 points.

Takeaways

Positive: The Orange made good offensive decisions, committing to their strategy instead of just throwing up shots. Engstler also came back to life on Thursday. In the last two games, Engstler had just eight points combined. Tonight, her shooting was on fire and she was a key part of the team win.

Negative: Turnovers were a little high (17), but the team was able to make up for it with points off Eagle turnovers (21 off 21 turnovers).

‘Cuse will host No. 2 NC State for their regular season final Sunday, Feb. 28 at 12 p.m. EST on ACC Network. Sunday will be Senior Day and the Play4Kay breast cancer awareness game. Prior to tip, Syracuse Athletics will recognize seniors Djaldi-Tabdi and Amaya Finklea-Guity. Lewis, Mangakahia, and Strautmane have previously celebrated Senior Day.