By the time Brianna Butler missed her first 3-pointer the game was already two minutes into the third quarter. She didn’t make a shot in the second half, but it didn’t matter. The damage was done.

Syracuse rode Butler to a hot start against Virginia on Thursday night. By halftime, the Orange was on pace to score 114 points and Butler was perfect in six 3-point attempts — one make shy of tying her career record in a game. Syracuse (19-6, 9-3 Atlantic Coast) shot season highs of 52.5 percent from the floor and 54.5 percent from beyond the arc and cruised to a dominating, 91-57, win over UVA (13-12, 3-8) at John Paul Jones Arena.

“She’s amazing,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said of Butler. “She really shot the ball. She got us going and it was just a masterful first half for her.”

Starting point guard Alexis Peterson scored 11 points before leaving the game with a right hand or wrist injury sustained in the fourth quarter.

Peterson injured her right wrist bracing herself for a fall against Louisville on Jan. 25 and sat out the following game. Hillsman expects her to be back for the Orange’s game at N.C. State on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“Same one,” Hillsman said. “She got banged again. She got banged up a little bit. The dangerous part is it’s not going to get better for her until we get some extended rest.”

Syracuse jumped out to a 7-0 lead less than a minute into the game off of three quick layups and two steals. Butler piled on the first three of her long balls as SU doubled-up the Cavaliers with 28 points in the first quarter.

After Butler knocked down her fifth 3 in a row, midway through the second quarter, UVA tried face guarding her on defense with Mikayla Venson. She hit another and SU led, 57-30, at the break — its most points in a half since 2013.

Hillsman slowed the game down in the second half, running more offensive sets, including a seldom-seen stack formation along the baseline.

“It was just to slow the game down, to keep the game under control, not get too erratic,” Hillsman said. “Make sure we run some sets and not shoot the ball really very quickly if we didn’t have a good shot in transition.”

As Butler cooled off, Brittney Sykes and Peterson picked up the slack. Sykes scored 11 of her 17 points in the second half.

Syracuse has won five in a row and will go for its longest winning streak of the season on Sunday at North Carolina State.

Published on February 11, 2016 at 10:47 pm

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