Cardoso Shines in Syracuse's Win Over Notre Dame

The Orange's freshman center was too much for the Irish.

Syracuse freshman center Kamilla Cardoso's immense talent has been well documented this season. She put together one of her most dominant performances of her young career on Sunday, and could be on her way to a second straight ACC Freshman of the Week honor. In Sunday's 81-69 win over Notre Dame, Cardoso finished with 18 points, seven rebounds and a career high nine blocks. 

Notre Dame did not have an answer for her all game. When Syracuse went inside to her offensively, her size and length was too much for the Irish. She got great looks at the basket all game, controlled the boards and dominated the paint defensively. 

Cardoso was particularly dominant in the fourth quarter. Syracuse entered the quarter trailing by seven, and that's when Cardoso took over. She had seven of her 18 points int he final frame, but her biggest contribution was on the defensive end. Every time Notre Dame went inside, Cardoso was there to block or alter a shot, or force an errant pass. Her strong defense sparked the Syracuse offense to allow the Orange to get control of a game they had trailed throughout. 

Midway through the fourth, Cardoso Syracuse was trailing by three points when Tiana Mangakahia turned it over. After a Notre Dame offensive rebound on the following possession, Cardoso blocked a Mabrey shot. Syracuse grabbed possession and Kiara Lewis hit a three pointer in transition to tie the game. A few possessions later, Cardoso's length bothered Mabrey again and she came up with a steal that led to Syracuse's first lead since the first quarter. 

Cardoso followed that up with blocks on back to back possessions, which Syracuse converted into five points to take a seven point lead with under three minutes left to play. The Orange would cruise from there. 

Five of the 6-7 freshman's nine blocks came in the fourth quarter as Syracuse turned that seven point deficit into a 12 point victory. Notre Dame scored just four points on 2-14 (14%) shooting thanks in large part to Cardoso's efforts, and Syracuse outscored the Irish 23-4. 

Cardoso is just scratching the surface of how dominant she can be game in and game out, but Sunday's performance was a big step forward. 

With the win, Syracuse improved to 9-3 (6-3) on the season. They next play at Georgia Tech on Tuesday in a battle for third place in the ACC.