The Cardinals posted a 71-53 win when the teams met at the Carrier Dome on January 25, but Syracuse has not lost since and carries a 10-game winning streak into Saturday’s rematch. They finished 4-for-6 for the game, while Syracuse was 3-for-4. “The difference was probably our inability to clear the ball a couple of times that they turned into scoring opportunities”. Butler, who had been quiet much of the day because of foul trouble, followed with a key jumper to push the lead to three.
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“I looked over the years – a fast-paced game, one and two-goal games many times over the years, so I didn’t expect anything else”, Desko said.
Sixth-seeded NC State could attest to that fact after a barrage of third-quarter shots from beyond the arc lifted the third-seeded Orange from a one-point deficit into firm control of the final quarterfinal game of Friday’s ACC Women’s Tournament session. SU will face No. 1 seed Notre Dame (30-1, 16-0) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. for the ACC championship at the Greensboro Coliseum.
No. 3-seed Syracuse will take on No. 2 Louisville in an ACC Tournament semifinal in Greensboro, N.C. Syracuse (24-6) earned that right with a 80-61 quarterfinal win over North Carolina State on Friday.
Halftime: Syracuse leads Louisville 39-33. He must, however, sort out his tendency to turn the ball over heading into Saturday and into ACC Tournament play.
“That’s one thing I just try to tell her: If you can just play your role and be a star in your role and come off the bench and play any position that I put you in for, we’re going to be successful”, coach Quintin Hillsman said. “And that’s what we talked about the last three minutes of the game was getting every rebound, contesting every shot, getting a body on a body and just toughen the game out”. For Louisville, the disappointing final five minutes will sit with them for a while.
The Wolfpack had been the final North Carolina team alive in the tournament.
As the teams went blow for blow, the Day sisters battled all game with ACC Player of the Year, Myisha Hines-Allen, who scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. But she came up big late, first by hitting a 3-pointer after Louisville had pushed to a 73-69 lead. The Cavaliers turned the ball over on their next possession, but James Pannell scored with 37 seconds remaining to make it a one-score game yet again.
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Regional Sports Networks (Fox Sports South in Louisville) will broadcast the game, with Tom Werme (play-by-play) and Debbie Antonelli (analyst) calling the action. And despite coming in as a 60 percent shooter at the foul line, Fondren calmly sunk two with 18.1 seconds left for a 78-75 lead. “She’s too good of a player to allow some missed shots to affect everything she does”.
