Syracuse Blows Out Clemson For Fifth Straight Win
The Syracuse Orange showed up and showed out Saturday night in Carrier Dome against the Clemson Tigers. The Orange won 86-46, defeating the Tigers for the tenth time in the series. It was the fifth straight win for Syracuse, the first time since the 2019-20 campaign SU has reached a winning streak of that length.
The game did not start out as a blowout, however. Former Syracuse star Kiara Lewis, who transferred to Clemson in the offseason, started the scoring. The Tigers outscored the Orange in the first five minutes before an 8-0 run would spark a Syracuse lead at the end of the first.
The second quarter also started out rough for Syracuse, with Clemson going on a 9-2 run in the first three minutes. Syracuse would quickly respond. The Orange scored three 3-pointers in the span of two minutes, started by Christianna Carr and Naje Murray. That was part of a 13-0 Orange spurt that provided a 40-27 halftime edge.
By halftime, Syracuse appeared to be in full control of the game.
“I knew they were playing hard, we were just kinda forcing it, and we weren’t necessarily sharing the ball, and from that quarter on, from the second quarter on, we started sharing the ball,” Acting Head Coach Vonn Read said.
Syracuse came out hot to start the third quarter and used a dominant frame to put the game away. A quick 9-0 run pushed the Orange lead to 22 and it only grew from there.
The Orange outscored the Tigers 70-18 in the final 27 minutes of the game, and never let them get within 19 points. Four Syracuse players scored in the double digits, Naje Murray with 21 points, Christianna Carr with 19 points, Chrislynn Car with 15 points and Alaysia Styles with 14 points, who also scored her first double-double in an Orange uniform with 10 rebounds.
After starting the season 2-4 following three losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis, Syracuse has turned the season around with five straight wins.
“Where this team was two and a half, three weeks ago coming from the Bahamas to where they are right now, they are just playing some amazing basketball, they’re playing team basketball,” Read said. “They were really sharing the ball, and a great effort in an ACC game, we definitely needed to be able to protect our home court.”
The Orange will have a week of rest before returning to Carrier Dome on December 18 as they take on UMBC.
