No. 18 Syracuse women top Virginia 67-57 in ACC quarters
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Digna Strautmane led a balanced attack with 14 points and 18th-ranked Syracuse, the fifth seeded, turned back 12th seeded Virginia 67-57 in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Thursday.
Tiana Mangakahia had 13 points, Kiara Lewis 12 and Miranda Drummond 11 for the Orange (23-7), who play fourth-seeded and 16th-ranked Miami in the quarterfinals on Friday.
An early 9-2 run put Syracuse on top for good and a 7-0 run that ended with a Gabrielle Cooper 3-pointer to open the scoring in the second quarter had the lead a 25-16. After a Lewis layup, Drummond had a pair of 3-pointers to end the second half with the score 40-29. The Orange went 6 of 11 from 3-point range and 10 of 10 from the foul line while Virginia was 1 of 8 from distance and 4 of 5 from the line.
Virginia (12-19) got no closer than eight points in the second half as Syracuse shot 57 percent.
Jocelyn Willoughby scored 17 of her 19 points in the second half for the Cavaliers but Dominique Toussaint only had three after getting 10 in the first half.
