GREENSBORO, N.C. — Cornelia Fondren’s eyes locked on the rim and didn’t waver. She was nervous, standing at the free throw line with 18 seconds left and her team ahead by just one point, but also confident.

The first one glided through the net and the second one followed. Though Fondren was shooting under 60 percent from the line on the season and was 2-for-6 in the first three quarters, she made the two biggest free throws in one of the biggest games in program history.

When the final buzzer sounded, Fondren and point guard Alexis Peterson jumped into a hug at half court and bounced up and down three times.

“Don’t doubt me. Don’t doubt us as a team at all,” Fondren said. “You can probably call me a bad free-throw shooter, but at the end of the day I’m going to have to make those.”

Guided by its two point guards in Peterson and Fondren, No. 3 seed Syracuse (25-6, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) pulled off the improbable, 80-75, upset against No. 2 seed Louisville (25-7, 15-1) to advance to the ACC championship game. Peterson had 19 points and Fondren had career-highs with 18 points and 13 rebounds to hand Louisville just its second conference loss of the season. The duo combined for 46 percent of the team’s points and each one was on the floor more than anyone else for the Orange.

Six weeks ago, the Cardinals came into the Carrier Dome and embarrassed SU with an 18-point win— SU’s second double-digit drubbing in a row at the time. But since then Syracuse has won 11 straight games. It’s upset then-No. 16 Miami, then-No. 10 Florida State and now No. 7 Louisville.

Syracuse will face No. 1 seeded and No. 2 ranked Notre Dame (30-1, 16-0) at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

 

Evan Jenkins | Staff Photographer

 

“This is a dream season,” Fondren said.  “We wanted this from the beginning. It’s amazing. Words can’t really explain.

“We had a Debby downer in the middle of the season, losing two games back-to-back, struggling the next game. Just to back it up in the ACC tournament …,” she said before letting out a sigh of relief.

In the Jan. 25 meeting between the two teams, SU scored just six points in the opening quarter. On Saturday, Peterson had nine points by herself.

She hit two layups in a row to put the Orange ahead by seven and force a timeout from Louisville head coach Jeff Walz.

Peterson pounded her chest and sprinted to the Syracuse bench before waving her arms up and down at the six rows of SU fans in front of her in the stands.

“Peterson just set the tempo of the game right off the bat,” Walz said. “She pushed that thing right down our throat, attacked us. She got to the rim. … Peterson was just a difference maker.”

The last time they played, Syracuse couldn’t drive into the lane, pass it to a big or get open outside shots. Its players would get pushed out on drives and take contested jumpers.

On Saturday, though, Peterson and Fondren muscled the ball inside for baskets and fouls. They swung around double screens at the top of the key and took advantage of the conference’s best player in forward Myisha Hines-Allen.

Syracuse moved its forwards out of the paint and let it two guards penetrate.

When Louisville took its first lead since the opening two minutes with a minute and a half left in the third, Fondren responded with an and-one layup to tie the game going into the final quarter. Hines-Allen picked up the foul.

“Big baskets. Big drives. Big rebounds,” Peterson said. “To have 18 (points) and 13 (rebound) as a guard is incredible. … We don’t win that game if she doesn’t do those things.”

The two point guards turned SU’s 25.8 shooting performance in the first matchup into a 42.5 percent one on Saturday. They helped SU outscore Louisville 40-34 in the paint and win without its usual bread and butter of at least 10 3s and 25 caused turnovers — the Orange had just six 3s and forced only 16 turnovers.

“We knew we could play off the bounce a little bit and get to the rim whether we were making 3s or not,” Hillsman said. “… We got the floor open and they made some plays in the paint.”

In the press conference after the loss to Louisville, Hillsman compared his team to a wounded animal. He said it didn’t compete. It wasn’t ready to play. For a rare time in his 10-year coaching tenure, he was upset with his team’s effort.

“What did I say?” Hillsman asked on Saturday, recounting how he finished his outburst. “‘You’re never going to see that team again,’ and we haven’t lost since then, have we?”

Published on March 5, 2016 at 4:45 pm

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