Alexis Peterson Makes a Statement in Syracuse's 73-62 Win Over Wake Forest

Story by Robin Deehan
Photo by Jonathan Kahn

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – In a game where a team scores 73 total points, it’s hard to believe that just one person was the catalyst.

But Thursday night in the Carrier Dome, that’s exactly what happened.

Point guard Alexis Peterson scored a career-best 32 points and committed just one turnover in her 39 minutes on the floor to lead the No. 25/24 Syracuse Orange to a 73-62 win over ACC rival Wake Forest.

“She won the game for us, period,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said.  “This is the best point guard performance of my nine years here by far.”

 

The sophomore was 10-for-15 from the field, 4-for-7 from the three-point line and 8-for-10 from the free throw line.

Peterson attributed her stellar play to her supporting cast.

"I came out and played with a lot of confidence," Peterson said. "My teammates really keep me motivated and keep me going, they’re my biggest fans and I love them to death. A night like tonight doesn't happen if I don't have these players around me."

Peterson was so dominant that no other Syracuse player scored in double digits.

“It was tremendous to watch a player totally take a game over like that,” Hillsman said.

Syracuse Capitalizes

SU jumped out to an early lead thanks to the Demon Deacons going 0-for-12 from the field in the first 11 minutes of the game.

“I’m not sure why we started cold, maybe we’re in the north,” Wake Forest head coach Jen Hoover said. “We have not had that kind of start in the last three games in the ACC, we’ve actually been starting really well so we’ve got to go back and look at it a little bit.”

But once Wake Forest’s shots started to drop, the Orange women stepped up defensively converting 14 Wake Forest first half turnovers into 14 Syracuse points before heading into halftime with a 32-24 lead.

The Demon Deacons best chance at taking the lead came in the second half when Dearica Hamby went on a 6-0 run to come within two points of the Orange with only three minutes left to play.

But thanks to the clutch rebounding efforts of sophomore Briana Day and Peterson’s hot hand, the Orange extended the lead back to a comfortable 11 points as time expired.

Day finished with six points, 13 rebounds and seven blocks to go with Peterson’s 32 points to help the Orange improve to 12-5 on the season and 2-2 in ACC play.

And despite Hamby’s best efforts, Wake Forest dropped to 9-9 overall and 0-4 in ACC play.

Up Next

The Orange will travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts to face Boston College this Sunday.

The Eagles are 8-9 overall and 0-3 in conference play.

Tip off is scheduled for 1 p.m.