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Before facing Clemson on the road Sunday, it looked like Syracuse would finally snag a marquee conference win, leading No. 20 NC State for most of the game. But head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said her team went into “panic mode.” Her players looked flustered. Their eyes were shifty. Syracuse collapsed in the second half to lose 74-66.

But despite the loss, the contest gave the Orange something to hang their hat on heading into their bout at Littlejohn Coliseum. The Tigers entered the contest slightly over .500, presenting an opportunity for SU to get back in the win column. It did.

Syracuse (8-12, 2-7 Atlantic Coast) defeated Clemson 67-55 (11-10, 4-6 Atlantic Coast), snapping a three-game losing streak. After a back-and-forth game through three quarters, a 25-8 fourth-quarter advantage propelled the Orange to victory. This marked SU’s second conference victory, tying it with Miami and SMU for the final ACC Tournament spot.

With just five minutes left in the contest, Syracuse led 53-49 via five quick points from freshman Madeline Potts — making her first career start after leading scorer Georgia Woolley began on the bench for the first time since the 2022-23 season. Kyra Wood then boosted the score to 57-49 with four points.

Clemson took a timeout with two minutes remaining after its top-scorer, Loyal McQueen, converted a layup to make it 57-51. But after trading buckets, Clemson resorted to fouling as Syracuse secured the win. Legette-Jack was impressed with her squad’s fight in the fourth quarter and ability to hold onto the lead.

“It’s a resiliency that we were really gonna lock into. And hopefully, we can bring that for the rest of the season,” Legette-Jack said.

With Woolley starting on the bench, Potts — who finished with a career-high 13 points — got involved immediately. She dished to Izabel Varejão inside for the game’s first score.

In just 9.9 minutes this season, the freshman boasted a team-leading 41.4% 3-point clip entering the game. She played 19 first-half minutes and 35 in total, pairing with Woolley after she entered at the eight-minute mark of the first.

Though after Varejão’s bucket, McQueen got hot. McQueen (13.9 points per game) and Mia Moore (11.8) are Clemson’s only players averaging double-digit points. Syracuse held the duo to just 20 points on 28.6% shooting Sunday. But for the moment, it couldn’t stop McQueen, who drained two mid-range floaters to put the Tigers up 7-4.

Woolley briefly helped Syracuse pull ahead by assisting a layup to Potts and draining a 3, putting SU up 9-7 five minutes in. Despite the burst, Woolley and Sophie Burrows — SU’s two best shooters — finished with 13 and two points, respectively. Still, Legette-Jack wasn’t phased because she knows she can’t rely on two players to score.

“We’re not about Georgia or Sophie being our go-to people. We have a go-to team,” she said.

After Woolley’s make, Clemson began firing away from 3. Despite entering as a 36% 3-point shooting team, the Tigers finished the game shooting an abysmal 8-for-33 from beyond the arc. Still, Clemson’s Hannah Kohn drained two triples in the final two minutes of the first, putting the Tigers ahead 16-12.

“(Clemson does) a tremendous job of sucking you in because they drive it so hard that you bite the bullet and you go in. They just hit you with all those amazing 3-point shooters,” Legette-Jack said.

In the second, the Tigers stuck to their guns, but it came back to bite them. SU let Clemson settle for 2s and crashed hard on 3-pointers. It worked. Clemson didn’t score its first points of the second until the two-minute mark of the quarter, allowing the Orange to pull ahead 25-16 with three minutes left.

However, Clemson embarked on its own 10-3 run — led by two buckets from McQueen — to cut SU’s advantage to 28-26 at halftime.

The Tigers began the second half exactly how they did in the first — with missed triples by Addie Porter, Kohn and Raven Thompson. Syracuse took advantage. A Woolley driving layup and Varejão triple propelled Syracuse to a 33-26 advantage just two minutes in.

Yet, SU again couldn’t maintain control. Clemson produced a 10-4 surge, cutting its deficit to 37-36 after a Kohn triple and second-chance jumper by Tessa Miller. Syracuse entered the mid-quarter timeout still up 40-36 after Potts’ second triple of the game — pushing her to eight points on the day.

Clemson kept its momentum going out of the break. Moore drained a triple from the right wing, her only made field goal of the game, as SU held her to just five points. But Syracuse couldn’t respond, with back-to-back Dominique Camp and Woolley misses, highlighting a five-minute stretch without making a shot.

This let the Tigers take their first lead since the opening quarter after McQueen dished to Miller for an easy layup. Clemson eventually pushed the score to 45-40 on Kohn’s fourth 3 of the game. Legette-Jack called a timeout after the trey, visibly frustrated with her team’s play. Nothing immediately changed as Syracuse entered the final quarter down 47-42 after two free-throw makes from Wood.

But in the fourth, it was a different story. The Tigers started with four missed shots and three turnovers, and Syracuse retook the lead.

SU outscored Clemson 25-8 in the quarter, holding the Tigers to just 3-of-17 from the field. This allowed the Orange to snap their three-game losing streak, giving Legette-Jack hope for the remainder of the season and beyond.

“I’m excited about our future. I’m excited about our now,” Legette-Jack said. “We just got to continue to lock in and expect great things for us.”

Published on January 26, 2025 at 4:10 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99