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The first time Pittsburgh and Syracuse squared off this season, the Orange dismantled the Panthers 80-57 in the Carrier Dome. Emily Engstler recorded a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds, and Mavea Djaldi-Tabdi finished with her best performance of the season, scoring 17 points in just 15 minutes in the first matchup. 

Though they defeated Pittsburgh on Sunday, the Orange struggled to score after dominating the Panthers in the first matchup. By the end of the first half, Syracuse was shooting less than 23% from the field, as Kamilla Cardoso was the only effective offensive player in the first 20 minutes for SU. 

Here are three takeaways from SU’s (11-4, 8-4 Atlantic Coast) 71-67 victory over Pittsburgh (4-7, 2-6) in its second matchup of the season:

Early shooting struggles

At the end of the first quarter, Syracuse had just six points, its worst scoring total in a single quarter since Dec. 22, 2017, when the Orange finished with just four points against UNLV in the fourth quarter. In the first 10 minutes, Syracuse shot just 7% from the field as it continued to misfire from around the court. 

With Syracuse leading 5-4 early in the first quarter, point guard Tiana Mangakahia threaded a transition chest-pass to Digna Strautmane as the forward streaked toward the basket. After collecting the pass, Strautmane’s layup attempt trickled off the side of the rim. But Djaldi-Tabdi was underneath the basket and fouled on an offensive rebound attempt.

After Syracuse inbounded the ball, Taleah Washington missed a three-point attempt from the left wing. SU again collected the rebound before senior Kiara Lewis missed the second layup attempt of the possession. 

Syracuse’s struggles continued as the second quarter began, with the Orange missing 16 consecutive field goals. 

Mangakahia was ineffective in the first half, missing both of her shot attempts. Most of the time, the point guard was focused on passing rather than driving and finishing at the rim. With under two minutes remaining in the first quarter, Mangakahia drove through the lane and had an opening for a layup. Instead, she flung a pass over her head to Priscilla Williams.

The errant pass was directed toward the left wing, which Williams had to race from the top of the key to receive. After corralling the ball, Williams hoisted up a 3 that missed the rim.

Cardoso’s dominance

After struggling to score in the first half, Syracuse switched offensive strategies to play through the 6-foot-7 Cardoso. Syracuse stopped shooting 3’s and began lobbing passes to Cardoso in the paint as the second quarter progressed.

SU’s post eventually finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. With a four-inch height advantage over Pitt redshirt freshman Cynthia Ezeja, Cardoso had no trouble boxing out the smaller defender and reeling in passes over the top of Pitt’s defense. 

By halftime, Cardoso scored a team-high 10 points and tied with Engstler for the most minutes played for Syracuse. When she missed a shot in the paint, Cardoso was often able to use her length to rebound over defenders and attempt another shot. 

With four minutes left in the second quarter, Djaldi-Tabdi threw a pass from the right corner to Cardoso in the paint. Once Cardoso caught the ball, she pivoted and turned to her right for a shot attempt. After her shot bounced off the glass, Cardoso snatched it out of the air and banked in a second attempt to cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 22-14.

Kiara Lewis’s second half takeover

After trailing by 15 points, Lewis took over in the third quarter, finishing with 10 points in 10 minutes. Lewis consistently drove to the basket before being fouled and converting from the free-throw line. 

Lewis drove to the hoop after Pittsburgh traveled and was fouled on a layup attempt with just 3.5 seconds remaining in the third quarter. After converting on both free throws, the senior guard gave Syracuse its first lead, 49-47, since leading 5-4 at the beginning of the game. 

While Mangakahia continued to pass rather than attack the basket, Lewis took over as the primary scorer of the duo, eventually finishing with 22 points. In the third quarter, Mangakahia walked toward the left wing, where Lewis stood, and casually handed her the basketball. As Mangakahia walked past her, Lewis stared at the basket, lined her shoulders parallel with her feet and nailed a deep contested triple.

Published on February 7, 2021 at 4:25 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_