After suffering a one-point upset on Monday at the hands of Drexel, No. 11 Syracuse (4-1) notched a win in its first game of the 2016 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero, Florida, Friday night, narrowly topping George Washington (3-2), 74-71.

Leading by 11 points entering the fourth quarter, Syracuse stumbled late, but held onto its lead for long enough to beat the Colonials in the tournament’s opener. Alexis Peterson scored a game-high 27-points, and Brittney Sykes followed with 21.

Much of the Colonials’ production Friday came via its bench, accounting for 34 of GWU’s 71 total points. Shannon Cranshaw, Mei-Lyn Bautista and Lexi Martins shot a combined 7-for-11 from beyond the arc, tallying 30 points for GWU in the loss.

“We knew they had good shooters coming off the bench, so I wasn’t extremely surprised about that,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “One thing that we did well tonight was we tried to match the other team’s 3s. We didn’t give them 3s that we didn’t return on the other end.”

SU totaled eight 3-pointers to the Colonials’ seven, shooting 31 percent from beyond the arc. GWU’s 3-point percentage was nearly 44 percent.

The Orange’s press defense stalled the Colonials for much of the first half, holding GWU to just 26 points, and just eight in the second quarter. It was one of the most decisive halves of basketball the Orange has played thus far, leading the Colonials by 20 with 10 seconds remaining in the half.

“We got set up in our defense, and that was a key for us (in the second quarter),” Hillsman said. “That’s the biggest thing for us, being able to play fast, getting that ball pressure, and getting the ball on the glass early.”

But just as SU began to pull away at the end of the third quarter, up 11 on the Colonials, GWU mounted a fourth-quarter comeback, scoring 21 points in the final 10 minutes of the contest. GWU outscored SU in the second half, 45-31.

Cranshaw dropped eight points in the fourth quarter, six of which came from 3-pointers, and Martins added five to bring the Colonials in striking distance as the three-point game carried into the final 30 seconds of the game.

“They got a ton of offensive rebounds in that fourth quarter especially,” Hillsman said. “They were really crashing the boards and did a good job of getting to the offensive glass, so you’ve got to really give them a lot of credit on that.”

The Colonials tabbed 52 rebounds in the loss, 20 more than the Orange’s 32. But Alexis Peterson carried the Orange safely to victory, nailing three free throws in the final 27 seconds.

“She was in attack mode,” Hillsman said of Peterson. “She did a really good job of attacking the rim all night, and we hit the glass behind her”

GWU managed two more shot attempts with three seconds remaining, but both shots fell away from the hoop, enough to keep the Orange on top for a 74-71 win.

The Orange will take on No. 8 Ohio State in the tournament’s semifinals on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. It will be the Orange’s first Top 25 matchup of the season, coming one day after the Buckeyes upended unranked Florida Gulf Coast, 79-66.

“We have to play tougher (tomorrow),” Hillsman said. “They’re a physical basketball team, so we have to do a much better job of being tough and rebounding the basketball. We know we can score points, but we’re going to have to rebound to be successful.”

Published on November 26, 2016 at 12:13 am

Contact Matt: mjfel100@syr.edu