Syracuse trailed Wake Forest by 16 at halftime on Sunday after being down by as many as 21 in the first half. By the end of the third quarter, the Orange had taken a one-point lead on the Demon Deacons. All told, SU outscored WFU 25-8 in a game-changing third quarter.

“We needed it,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “… That was huge.”

That big third quarter was enough to erase a weak first half for SU (18-7, 6-6 Atlantic Coast) and give the Orange a 71-61 win over WFU (11-14, 3-9). The Orange won the second half by a 42-16 margin to storm back from the halftime deficit.

SU was led by the country’s assist leader, point guard Tiana Mangakahia, who took over the scoring mantle on Sunday with 26 points. Mangakahia added eight assists and for the first time all season didn’t turn the ball over.

“We just told her we needed her to take care of the ball and that we wanted to get a shot every time down the court,” Hillsman said.

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Syracuse, with just one conference road win entering Sunday’s game, looked as if it would continue its road struggles. Wake Forest outscored SU by eight in each of the first two quarters.

But in the third stanza, Syracuse came thundering back. After the Demon Deacons scored first to open up an 18-point lead, Mangakahia set up Gabrielle Cooper for the Orange’s first points of the half.

Hillsman credited dropping into half-court pressure — a departure from SU’s usual full-court press — as part of the difference to creating turnovers and getting back in the game.

“We got some really good traps and I thought that was key in the second half,” Hillsman said of his team. “… They came out in the second half and they played urgent.”

When WFU got to 51 points on the scoreboard, SU had 38. There was 5:41 left in the third quarter. With 1:34 left in the quarter, SU took a 52-51 lead. Fourteen-straight points brought Syracuse out of a major hole and into the drivers’ seat. Digna Strautmane’s five and Jasmine Nwajei’s four were the largest contributions to what was a 14-0 run.

Entering the fourth quarter with a lead, the Orange pulled away, outscoring WFU by nine in the final 10 minutes.

“The biggest thing with it is just to continue to build off our effort,” Hillsman said.

As time wound down, Wake Forest didn’t bother to foul Syracuse. With the lead at 10 and under a minute left, the result was a formality.

“This is (the players’) win,” Hillsman said. “… We’re counting these last five games as one game. We need all five of these.”

Published on February 11, 2018 at 5:46 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3