ACC Semifinals: Syracuse women's basketball vs. the Louisville Cardinals
The Syracuse women’s basketball team has shown resiliency in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Without star point guard Tiana Mangakahia, who has been nursing an upper-body injury she suffered against North Carolina State on Feb. 28, the Orange are through to the semifinals after an epic comeback win against the Seminoles — the fourth seed in the tournament — which was topped off by freshman Kamilla Cardoso’s buzzer-beater heard ‘round the Greensboro Coliseum. The Orange come into the matchup against the No. 5 seeded Cardinals as underdogs, yet again.
The semifinal will be a rematch from Jan. 21, a game the Cardinals broke away in at the end, downing Syracuse 67-to-54. The two teams come into the game with strong freshman play in Syracuse’s Kamilla Cardoso, who recorded 16 points (5-of-9), 13 rebounds, 2 blocks, and 1 buzzer-beater to propel the Orange into the semis. Louisville’s sharpshooter and freshman sensation Hailey Van Lith had an outstanding game of her own in the Cardinals' first game of the tourney against Wake Forest, filling up the stat sheet with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals, and 6-for-10 shooting from beyond the three-point arc.
Similar to the Orange, the Cardinals have one of the best backcourts in the ACC – unlike Syracuse, who has been without Mangakahia for the past two games, Louisville’s backcourt in Dana Evans, and the aforementioned Van Lith are coming into the game healthy and ready to go. Though the lefty Van Lith has been pivotal to the Cardinals' offense all season, the driving force behind the No. 5 teams in the nation (No. 1 seed In the ACC tournament) is its senior guard Dana Evans. The 5-foot-6 guard from Gary, Ind., has led the Cardinals to one of the best records in the country while averaging 20.5 points per contest on 43% shooting from the floor, 4.5 assists, and an impressive 93% rate from the charity stripe.
A win for the Orange will put them in the tournament finals for the first time since 2016, a game they lost to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 68-to-57, and a chance for an automatic bid in the NCAA Tournament if they go on to win the tourney. For the Cardinals, a victory will thrust them into the finals for the third time in the last four seasons and a chance to hoist the ACC trophy for the first time since 2018.
Note: Freshman Priscilla Williams was carted off the court on a stretcher in Syracuse's win against the Seminoles. Coach Quentin Hillsman said Williams was responsive and had movements in all her extremities during the halftime broadcast. The injury could spell into the Orange missing two of its standard starters throughout the regular season in Mangakahia and Williams.
