Syracuse women's basketball falls to Clemson after erasing a huge halftime deficit
Syracuse experienced its first overtime game of the season after clawing back from a 25-point halftime deficit, nearly pulling out a victory, but it just wasn't the Orange's day to shine.
As the Orange looked to get back to its winning ways after enduring a tough loss to the No. 1 team in the country, the Clemson Tigers had different plans for their Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers dominated the first half in every way one can imagine. Clemson shot the ball twice as efficiently as the Orange, shooting 48% from the field in contrast to SU’s woeful 28%. The Tigers beat the Orange at their own game by controlling the paint, where Syracuse has an advantage with 6-foot-7 freshman Kamilla Cardoso. (Clemson came into the game shorthanded with eight players available, excluding their second-leading rebounder in Gabby Elliot.) The Tigers out-rebounded Syracuse 54-39, much to the chagrin of SU fans. Cardoso had a mere three shot attempts in the first half, a figure that must go up if the Orange want to play to its strength to start games. The freshman finished the contest with 12 points on 5-for-10 shooting, 6 blocks to go along with 6 rebounds and 2 steals as she was much more active in the second half.
As for one of the most elite passers in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Tiana Mangakahia had a subpar game from her standards. Mangakahia is one of the most gifted passers in all of college basketball, however, she also leads the Orange in turnovers. Though in recent games Managakahia has shown the ability to keep the turnovers down while still posting double-digit assists -- she had zero turnovers with 11 assists against the No. 1 Cardinals -- the point guard had seven turnovers to go with 10 assists on Sunday afternoon, marking her fourth consecutive double-digit assist game but a game in which turnovers came back to bite SU once again.
After what seemed to be a blow-out win for the Tigers from the get-go, the Orange came out with a different mentality in the second half, starting with its defense. Syracuse shut down Clemson’s offense in the third and fourth quarters while taking advantage of the Tigers’ turnovers, (SU scored 23 points off 24 Clemson turnovers) and converting them into points to claw back in the game. Trailing 29-10 following the first quarter, the Orange held the Tigers to nine points in the third, while scoring 23. The fourth period was much of the same as Syracuse held the Clemson offense in check, yet again holding the Tigers to just nine points. The Orange scored 20 points in the fourth quarter to tie the game and eventually send the game to overtime behind a wide-open Emily Engstler jumper, who finished the game one rebound shy of securing four consecutive double-doubles (17 points, 9 rebounds), and Kiara Lewis' game-high 25 points.
SU's offense fell flat in overtime as the Tigers outscored the Orange 16-7. The comeback would not be enough to propel Syracuse to a victory as the Orange fall to 7-3 (4-3 ACC) on the season.
Syracuse women's basketball will be back in the Carrier Dome to face off against Pitt (3-4) (1-3) on Jan. 28, marking their first meeting against the Panthers this season.
