Story, Photos and Video by Julia Morris
Syracuse, N.Y. -- No. 25 Syracuse was down by six points to Pittsburgh at the
end of the first half on Sunday afternoon- and Orange Head Coach Quentin
Hillsman found himself questioning whether his team understood the importance
of the game. With only one more game
left in the regular season, Syracuse needed to beat Pitt to
stay in contention for the NCAA Tournament.
“It was just one of those things I had to let them know, it
was our effort,” Hillsman said. “There was a point in the first half when I
questioned if we understood the urgency of this game. I challenged them and
said if we win this game we have a great chance to go to the Tournament, you
lose the game you go to the NIT.”
Whether Hillsman’s speech inspired Syracuse to play with a
greater sense of urgency or not, the Orange’s defense smothered Pitt in the
second half. Syracuse (20-8, 10-5 ACC)
limited the Panthers (18-9, 8-6 ACC) to 13 points - four in the last ten
minutes of play- en route to a 68-54 victory on Senior Day at the Carrier Dome.
Pitt Dominates Down
Low in the First Half
While Pitt struggled to score down the stretch, the Panthers'
offense scored 41 points in the first half. Leading the way was Monica
Wignot, who scored all of her 14 points in the first twenty minutes. The 6-foot-3 forward, who played four years
of volleyball at Pitt before joining the basketball team as a graduate student
this year, was 6-of-8 from the field heading into the break.
Syracuse shot only 31 percent from the field in the opening
half, but the Orange stayed in the game because of 6-of-13 shooting from 3-point range. Brianna Butler, who made six 3-point field goals in the first half of
Syracuse’s last game against BC, continued her hot streak and made five 3-pointers during the game.
“When you make
shots it gets your confidence up and once you’re seeing the ball going through
the basket it’s a good feeling," Butler said. "You feel more confident when you shoot the
ball for the next time."
One of Butler’s threes came with 8:06 left in the half and
tied the game at 24. Besides that tie, there were four other points when the score
was even in the first, along with eight lead changes. Taylor Ford hit another
three for Syracuse with 5:14 to go to put the Orange up by one, 27-26, but Pitt
answered on its next possession when Utica native Brianna Kiesel connected from
long-range and put the Panthers up by two, 29-27.
But that three was Kiesel’s only one of the game. The Panthers’ leading scorer, who came into
the game averaging 18 points per game, finished 1-of-7 from
behind the arc and 3-of-12 from the field.
“Teams know that Kiesel’s a key to our team and if they
scored or they were pressing all they did was double team her and take the ball out
of her hands,” Pitt Head Coach Suzie McConnell-Serio said.
While the game was close for most of the half, Pitt did
start to pull away in the final minutes before the break. The Panthers dominated in the paint,
outscoring Syracuse 26-8 down low in the first.
Three of those baskets came in the final three minutes of the half when
Yacine Diop hit three wide-open shots down low. Her third one came with 1:34 left and put
Pitt up 38-31 and the Panthers went on to take a
41-35 heading into the second half.
Orange Starts Second Half Strong
Syracuse came out with a different energy after halftime. Ten seconds in, Butler hit
another three to pull Syracuse within three, 41-38.
Two minutes later, Cornelia Fondren had the ball on a fast
break with one defender between her and Alexis Peterson. Fondren opted to pass to Peterson instead of
taking the ball to the hoop, and Peterson couldn’t handle the pass. Hillsman was visibly upset with Fondren’s choice
to give the ball up- but she would not let it happen again.
A few seconds later, she had the ball down low in front of
the basket and went right up with it to put Syracuse within
one. She added two other baskets in the
paint later on in the half and finished the game with nine points off the
bench.
“She plays four positions for us, it doesn’t matter what
position she plays she is going to be effective in that position,” Hillsman
said. “She is a tremendous talent.”
With 11:41 to play, Diop scored again down low to put Pitt
up 50-48. But that was the last Panthers’ field goal until the final minute of
the game as Syracuse's defensive pressure proved too much for Pitt to handle.
With 9:34 to go, Briana Day rolled right to the middle of
the paint, caught a pass from Peterson, and laid it in from the right side of
the lane to put Syracuse up by four, 54-50.
That lead provided enough momentum for the Orange to keep moving
forward.
And Day’s basket was not the only way she helped Syracuse
pull off the victory - she also had 18 rebounds, five blocks, and three
steals to go along with her 15 points.
“I’m just playing hard and doing what I can to help my team,”
Day said.
Butler killed any hopes of a Pitt comeback when she hit
another three with 2:12 left that made the score 64-51. Hillsman was pumped after the basket and even high-fived a few of the Syracuse basketball alums who were sitting next to
the Syracuse bench.
Hillsman was also filled with energy at the half, as McConnell-Serio said his speech changed Syracuse's approach to the game and helped them pull off the victory.
“I could just hear
screaming from the other end,” McConnell-Serio said. “They obviously
responded...to come out of the locker room and change the whole complexion of
the game.”
Next Up
The match-up against Pitt was the Orange’s last regular
season home game. The team’s two
seniors, Diamond Henderson and Tiara Butler, were honored before tip-off. Syracuse will play its final regular season
game on Thursday at Clemson. The game will start at 7 p.m.
The Panthers still have two more games left
in their season against Notre Dame and Clemson. First up, they will travel to South Bend to
take on the Fighting Irish on Thursday.
Game time is 7 p.m.
Videos:
Alexis Peterson, Briana Day, Brianna Butler Post-Game
Coach McConnell-Serio Post-Game
Coach Hillsman Post-Game
Alexis Peterson, Briana Day, Brianna Butler Post-Game
Coach McConnell-Serio Post-Game
Coach Hillsman Post-Game
