Syracuse Women’s Basketball Prepares for the ACC Tournament
By Chris Sacchi
CitrusTV Women’s Basketball Beat Reporter
Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman and senior guard Gabby Cooper both understand what is at stake for the SU Women’s Basketball heading into the ACC Tournament.
“We got to win the tournament, to get into the tournament, the NCAA tournament,” Hillsman said after the final game of the regular season.
“Win every game,” Cooper added. She is the last remaining player from the 2016 team that made it to the national championship game.
But, if the Orange want to get to the big dance, they will need to beat four ACC foes along the way, starting with Virginia.
First Game
At 15-14 and 9-9 in conference play, SU earned the eighth seed in the tournament. Syracuse is set to play ninth-ranked Virginia (13-16, 8-10 ACC) on Thursday, March 5th at Greensboro Coliseum.
These two teams met back in early February with the Cavaliers topping the Orange 57-41. Coach Q’s squad put up a season-low in points with the offense barely shooting above 26%. Reflectively, Kiara Lewis had her worst game of the season with only two points.
If SU beats UVA…
A win on Thursday means a rematch with top-ranked Louisville. The season series is split 1-1 as Louisville took the first matchup by four, but Syracuse upset the Cardinals in the second contest 59-51.
In the victory back on February 9th, SU forced 22 turnovers, causing Louisville to suffer a season-low scoring output.
Potential Future Matchups…
If Syracuse beat Louisville, the Orange could facing either No. 5 Virginia Tech, No. 13 Wake Forest, or No. 4 Florida State.
SU etched out a two-point victory over Virginia Tech earlier this year, and similarly grabbed a one-point overtime win at home over FSU right after the start of the new year. The lowest seeded team of the group, Wake Forest, beat Syracuse by five points this season.
cjsacchi@syr.edu | @SachChristopher
