They've Got Heart - Syracuse Beats Georgia Tech 71-52

By Lindsey Horsting
Photo By Brian Armstrong

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – It was a hard-fought game at the Carrier Dome Sunday afternoon but the second half team, Syracuse pulled away to win 71-52.  The Orange scored 47 points and forced 20 turnovers in the second half.

Syracuse junior center Briana Day led the way with a double-double: 21 points and 12 rebounds.

“I felt like it was a masterful performance by our kids,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said.  “We really picked our pace up in the second half"

At 6'4" Day is taller than the Georgia Tech centers, But her build is slighter and against a physical Georgia Tech team she had to dig deep, she said.

“It’s going in there and fighting back, and show them my big heart because that’s all it takes to go out there and rebound against girls that are bigger than you,” Day said.

The Orange (18-6, 8-3 ACC) wore down the Yellow Jackets (14-10, 4-7 ACC) physically and mentally, making it difficult to execute plays when they needed to, Georgia Tech head coach MaChelle Joseph said.

“It’s a credit to our team that he felt he had to play his starters 35, 40 minutes and I thought that they did a great job,” she said.

Four out of the five Syracuse starters logged over 30 minutes against Georgia Tech, which was a change to the constant substitutions the Orange are used to.  It didn’t phase Syracuse because its practices prepare the team to play the entire game if necessary, senior forward Brianna Butler said.

Both teams used all timeouts in the game, and there are media timeouts to rejuvenate.

“They had a lot of rest,” Hillsman said.

First Half

Georgia Tech was the first to get on the scoreboard with a three by junior forward Katarina Vuckovic.  Butler got the Orange its first points in over two minutes into the game with a pull-up three.  It was all Orange until the Yellow Jackets went on a 10-0 run to take the lead 13-9.  The Yellow Jackets closed the first quarter on a 15-2 run putting Georgia Tech up 18-11.

The Yellow Jackets held their momentum in the second quarter and Hillsman was visibly frustrated.

“We missed layups, we missed open threes, and we missed put backs,” Hillsman said.

It was a very physical game and the Orange women were out-muscled in the first half.  Georgia Tech boasts a tall and strong roster that made it challenging for the Orange to get possession when fighting for loose balls.

Georgia Tech closed the half up 30-24.

Second Half

Butler hit a three to open the third quarter.  It looked as though the second half would be as physical as the first as Butler bumped into Georgia Tech senior forward Aaliyah Whiteside and Whiteside raked her arm across Butler’s shoulder as she passed her.

Junior guard Alexis Peterson then sank a three and Butler had a steal with an assist to red shirt juniof guard Brittney Sykes to give the Orange a 39-34 lead with 5:10 remaining in the third quarter.  Georgia Tech was called for a three second violation on the other end of the floor and senior guard Cornelia Fondren took it coast-to-coast and made an assist to Day who put it away for two points.

“I think we really focused in on coming out to start the third quarter, and really just doing all the dirty work: loose balls, going and getting extra rebounds,” Peterson said.

In the fourth quarter the Orange out-scored the Yellow Jackets 22-6.

Highlights

Along with Day's 21 points and 12 rebounds, Peterson had 22 points, and Butler had 12 points.

In the second half Day set high screens for Peterson and Georgia Tech defenders switched the screens to their disadvantage giving Day a one-on-one situation with a guard.  Peterson and Day were catalysts to the Orange getting back in the game, Hillsman said.

“When you get those two playing well, you get your point guard and your post player playing like that you’re going to win a lot of games,” he said.

Syracuse tied its season-high of 35 forced turnovers in a game against the Yellow Jackets.

Georgia Tech senior forward Roddreka Rogers also had a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.

Whiteside led for the Yellow Jackets with 16 points and sophomore guard Antonia Peresson had 11 points.

Up Next

The Orange travels to Charlottesville, Virginia to take on the University of Virginia Cavaliers Thursday Feb. 11 at 7 p.m.