Syracuse (7-6, 1-1 Atlantic Coast) logged its best win of the season Thursday night in thrilling fashion. Emily Engstler laid in the winner at the buzzer to defeat No. 8 Florida State (13-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast), 90-89, in overtime in the Orange’s first game at the Carrier Dome since Dec. 8. Digna Strautmane drilled a desperation three to tie the game with 2.6 seconds left in regulation and sent it to overtime.

Resume booster

Despite leading in the last three minutes of the fourth quarter in four of its six games against ranked opponents this season, Syracuse came into Thursday 1-5 against AP Top 25 teams.

SU’s execution in the final minutes against such opponents had been poor, but on Thursday it reversed that narrative. It never held a lead in the fourth quarter, but the Orange made enough stops to stay in the game despite brief offensive droughts before big shots by Strautmane and Engstler gave them their biggest win of the season.

Living in the paint

Syracuse came into Thursday night’s game ranked ninth in 3-point field goals attempted (29.6 per game). The Orange more than halved that total in the first quarter alone. SU shot 6-for-15 from behind the arc in the opening quarter, including a 5-for-7 start. Again, it looked like the Orange would be heavily reliant on the long ball.

But from the start of the second quarter on, SU attempted 18 3-point attempts and primarily operated in the paint. They recorded all but six of their 43 points in the second-half within the arc, including 11 free throw makes in the fourth quarter.

To the buzzer

Heading into the final minute of the second quarter, Syracuse led by seven. But after Florida State’s Nicki Ekhomu drained a deep contested 3-pointer as the shot clock expired, Taleah Washington clanked a contested 3 off the right side of the rim and Kiah Gillespie sunk a buzzer-beating long ball from the right-wing, that lead was widdled down to one.

The Orange fell behind to start the third quarter but soon built their lead back to seven, 42-35. Again, they allowed Florida State back into the game with bad shot selection on offense and poor shot contestation on defense. Down by one in the final minute of the third, the Seminoles’ Sammie Puisis and Gillespie each notched 3s, bringing FSU’s advantage to five heading into the final period.

If not for SU’s lazy defense in the final moments of the second and third quarters, it might have won in regulation. But the most important last-second plays came from the home team. First, in the waning seconds of regulation, Digna Strautmane hucked up a desperation three. It landed, and with 2.6 seconds left, SU and FSU were tied.

With 0.8 seconds remaining in overtime, Teisha Hyman found Emily Engstler with a lob towards the basket, and the sophomore stayed composed to lay in the game-winner.

Published on January 2, 2020 at 10:47 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu