With the final minute bleeding off the clock in a tie game, Alexis Peterson charged through the mosh of Miami players stationed under the basket.

She threw up a layup too hard off the glass, and Cornelia Fondren’s hands emerged above the pack to smother the rebound. She tossed up an errant layup before the 6-foot-4 Briana Day bodied up Miami center Emese Hof and dropped in the go-ahead bucket with 45 seconds left.

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman clenched both fists and let out a yell as the Orange was on the doorstep of a conference upset on the road.

“That was a post move I’ve been working on with (Day) for this entire year,” Hillsman said, “and she executed perfectly.”

Syracuse stuck to its formula of incessant presses and points in transition to take down the Hurricanes on Monday night. SU (16-6, 6-3 Atlantic Coast) forced 26 turnovers — 17 in the first half — to keep No. 16 Miami (18-4, 6-3) off the ball in a 57-51 win.

Peterson returned to the court after missing Wednesday’s contest with a right-wrist injury and led Syracuse with 16 points. Ten of those points came in the fourth quarter as the junior guard helped SU outscore the Hurricanes, 19-12, in the final 10 minutes.

“(Peterson returning) is great because we can get people back in their natural spots on the floor and get our rotation back the way it needs to be,” Hillsman said.

Syracuse finally got out to a hot start after suffering through three straight first quarters in which it fell behind by at least 13 points.

Isabella Slim splashed a corner 3 to build on a 14-2 Syracuse run midway through the first quarter. After a couple of made free throws by Fondren and a Brittney Sykes fast-break layup, the Orange built up a 16-7 cushion after being down 7-2.

The Hurricanes went nearly seven full minutes between field goals in the first quarter until Erykah Davenport broke loose and scored an uncontested layup with 1:26 left in the quarter.

“Just trying to execute our offense and get our pressure set to turn (Miami) over,” Hillsman said of SU’s first-half performance. “I thought we did a good job.”

Miami struggled navigating Syracuse’s press and 2-3 zone as the game’s opening half came to a close. Peterson corralled three steals in a 90-second span, but her third was nullified by a Day giveaway.

Syracuse’s lead evaporated on a Jessica Thomas 3-pointer that tied the game with 3:05 remaining in the second quarter. While shooting only 3-of-19 in the contest, two late 3s by Brianna Butler rescued SU and built a six-point halftime lead.

“We did a really good job of being aggressive,” Hillsman said. “Our press did a very good job of getting organized, that was huge for us.”

Coming out of the half, SU slowed its pace and was outscored, 15-8, in the third stanza. The Orange continued its aggressive defense, but Adrienne Motley burned Syracuse’s overexertion.

Motley dropped in seven consecutive points to draw the Hurricanes within a point, and capped off her two-minute scoring spree beating Fondren down the court in a race to the basket.

“We didn’t miss shots early, and we (started) missing shots,” Hillsman said. “We were playing … a little more unsettled than we were before.”

But the Orange leaned on its pillars of success from the first half to close out the game in the final 10 minutes. Peterson scooped up a loose-ball turnover on the opening possession and was fouled on her way to the basket.

She then marched through Miami’s interior defense a minute later and put the Orange ahead by two. She stole the ensuing inbound and was fouled while making a move toward the hoop.

Peterson went to the charity stripe eight times in the final quarter and hit her last four tries in the final 21 seconds to cement the final score.

For a Syracuse team that looked in flux without its ringleader against Boston College on Wednesday, it was Peterson who steadied the Orange in its second ACC win on the road.

“Any time we can have her turn the corner making plays and playing like that,” Hillsman said, “we’ve got a chance to be good.”

Published on February 1, 2016 at 10:43 pm

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