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After 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso won the opening tip-off, Syracuse quickly connected with Priscilla Williams on the left wing. Williams found point guard Tiana Mangakahia wide open at the top of the key, and the Australian squared her shoulders parallel to her toes and knocked down the 3. 

Two possessions later, Mangakahia had possession at the top of the key before throwing to Williams on the wing. After a quick right foot jab step, Williams stepped back, launching Syracuse’s second 3 of the game and putting Syracuse on top for good less than 1:30 into the contest. Sunday afternoon, Williams was perfect from the field, shooting 9-9 for a career-high 26 points. Her last marked the 17th made 3-pointer of the night — tying a Carrier Dome record — as the Orange shot a season-high 57% from beyond the arc.

After being on pause since Dec. 27 due to a positive COVID-19 case within the program, No. 24 Syracuse recorded its most points in Atlantic Coast Conference play and its most in a conference game since a 102-88 victory over West Virginia in 1999, when SU still played in Manley Field House. The Orange (6-1, 3-1 ACC) led by 18 at halftime and beat Miami (6-5, 3-5) for the second time this season, 99-64. 

“I wish we could go straight to February,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We got great looks on perimeter with our shooters, so just I don’t know, I’m really happy with our performance.”

The pause meant postponements, cancellations and limited practice time for the Orange. One by one, games against North Carolina, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech were postponed, while SU’s game against Virginia was canceled once the Cavaliers decided to forego the remainder of the season. 

Hillsman didn’t specify who tested positive within SU’s program but said most of his players were able to work out in the gym individually and attend rehab sessions during the pause. He wasn’t able to conduct many full-team practices, though.

“You miss days of practice, and it definitely hurts you a little bit,” Hillsman said before Sunday’s game. “It probably doesn’t matter whether we’re ready or not, because time keeps ticking, we got to play this game. I think it’s good that we’re playing an opponent that we already played, so they are familiar with us and vice-versa, so hopefully that can help us a little bit in our game prep.”

While Syracuse may have missed practices, it didn’t show. The Orange jumped out to an early lead, scoring 32 points in the first quarter. Seven players notched a first-half 3-pointer.

With just six seconds remaining in the opening 20 minutes, Mangakahia dribbled at the top of the key before finding Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi open from the right wing. The Parisian, who came in shooting less than 17% from beyond the arc this season, didn’t hesitate.

Just as six of her teammates had done in the opening 20 minutes, Djaldi-Tabdi nailed a 3. Her first points of the game also accounted for one of Mangakahia’s 10 assists. The point guard had her first double-double in 1,030 days, as well as the 100th 3-pointer of her career.

“Once one person’s shots fall, usually the rest of them fall,” Williams said.

After the halftime intermission, Williams’ shot was the first to fall, stretching SU’s lead to 52-32. Williams said it was SU’s quick passes that led to easy scoring. 

With 7:44 remaining in the third quarter, Mangakahia drove to the right side of the hoop and delivered a behind-the back-pass for Cardoso, cutting to the basket. But Cardoso wasn’t able to reel in the bounce pass, and it trickled to the right corner as Williams ran to retrieve it. As soon as the freshman grabbed the ball, she twisted, squared and fired. Just like her eight other shots and five other 3’s, Williams connected, extending SU’s lead to 22.

Miami prepared for Cardoso, another SU freshman, but were unable to contain Williams, who was Syracuse’s leading scorer on Sunday. 

“It’s crazy, because you really have to do an entire game plan for someone who doesn’t play a ton of minutes, but (Cardoso’s) so impressive in the minutes that she’s in,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said of SU’s center after the teams played Dec. 10. 

Kamilla Cardoso finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Syracuse’s win over Miami. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA Today Sports

While Miami began Sunday’s game focused on Cardoso, Meier quickly switched to a man-to-man defense midway through the first half to prevent 3’s. As the second half began, she furthered that, instituting a press in a fleeting attempt to close the gap. Neither adjustment made a difference.

Syracuse continued using its length to fire over Miami’s defenders and hit 3’s. After a couple turnovers due to Miami’s press, Syracuse began to break through the Hurricane’s 94-foot defense with ease. That led to quick baskets, often on Mangakahia passes to teammates rolling by outmatched Miami defenders.

“(The Hurricanes) had a couple schemes they run, and we kind of had a really good feel for their game package,” Hillsman said. “We’ve been playing each other for 15 years now.”

With long distance shots continuing to fall and Miami forced to defend near the 3-point line, Syracuse was able to space the court. Mangakahia led the offense, dribbling along the arc as teammates cut toward the basket. Emily Engstler and Cardoso attacked the rim, finishing with 11 and 17, respectively.

Even though Syracuse was able to score at ease from the paint, Hillsman’s squad continued to fire from deep with the game well out of reach. With 3:25 in the third quarter, freshman Kiara Fisher swiftly converted a long shot from the left wing after Kiara Lewis missed initially. On the next possession, Engstler threw a quick pass to Digna Strautmane who drained the 3, SU’s 12th of the game.

By the end of the third quarter, Syracuse held a commanding lead, and Hillsman had just one starter still on the court. 

In the first game against Miami, Syracuse shot just 30.8% from 3. But after the three-week COVID-19 pause, Syracuse hit over half of its 3’s for the first time this season. 

Mangakahia and Williams’ early 3’s created a quick passing offense, leading to open triples for everyone. But after SU’s blow-out victory, Hillsman chalked up the win to “some basic stuff.”

“Share the ball, move the ball, play inside-out,” Hillsman said. “I thought that was a key to us scoring a lot of points today.”

Published on January 17, 2021 at 2:16 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_