Tammi Reiss bounced off Syracuse’s bench after Alexis Peterson nailed a 3 from the right corner. The Syracuse assistant coach pointed at Peterson while turning back to the Orange’s subs. “Go! Go get her!” Reiss urged to the backups as Peterson trotted, three fingers hanging in the air. Peterson had eight of SU’s first 11 points. Less than four minutes in, Syracuse had a nine-point lead.

And having a reason to celebrate Peterson continued throughout the entire game.

The No. 4 seed Orange’s (26-7, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) point guard dazzled once again, commanding an offense that never trailed in a 73-56 win over 13th-seeded Army (29-3, 17-1 Patriot).

“She’s really one of the best point guards I’ve gone up against in my career. I’ve been doing it 10 years,” Black Knights head coach Dave Magarity said. “She’s that good with the ball, she’s that good handling the pressure.”

Peterson finished with 24 points, matching a single-game school record in the NCAA tournament, in the first-ever tournament game hosted in the Carrier Dome. She went 13-for-13 from the free-throw line, another school tournament record, and a testament to her ability to drive inside and force Army to foul. For the third straight NCAA tournament game, Peterson scored at least 23 points. And for the third straight year, SU advanced to the Round of 32, where it will face No. 12 seed Albany on Sunday.

As Army switched on all ball screens, Peterson often got matched up against the Black Knights’ center. Then she used her speed and quickness to attack the basket.

“I just wanted to keep taking advantage of that and keep playing aggressively at the rim,” Peterson said.

The Black Knights, when they had the chance to, used a full-court press against Syracuse. But on multiple occasions in the first quarter, Peterson single-handedly dribbled through it by herself. At one point in the first quarter, she avoided getting trapped by two players by dribbling from one sideline to the other and back to the side she came from. Peterson still got it over half court all on her own.

And after that, Peterson directed the offense all game against Army’s halfcourt 2-3 zone defense, which usually makes it challenging for point guards to drive. But Peterson’s quickness allowed her to split the two guards at the top, making it a challenge to defend her, Army point guard Kelsey Minato said.

On Saturday, Magarity said watching Peterson play on film was “scary.” On Sunday, everything he felt while prepping for Syracuse was validated.

For the fourth straight game, Peterson scored at least 18 points, marking her best scoring stretch of the season, after developing as a distributor earlier in the year.

“I give her a lot of credit for staying tough and doing what she does night in and night out,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “… she was phenomenal.”

Time after time, Peterson got to the free-throw line, which became a “major, major issue,” for Army, Magarity said. When she drove lefty and threw a shot that bounced off the rim in the fourth quarter, Magarity yelled “If you’re not going to block a shot, take a charge!” Too often Army did neither.

A minute later, Peterson dribbled in front of two defenders near the low block with her back hunched over to protect the ball. Even in traffic, she executed a cross-over dribble mere inches from the ground. As one of the defenders fell down in front of her, Peterson brought the ball back to the top and reset the play.

Just another impressive play in a game filled with them.

“I just want to do my part basically,” Peterson said. “And if that means scoring 24 points or 25, however many, or 10, that’s just what I want to do. I want to stay aggressive.”

Published on March 18, 2016 at 7:39 pm

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