Gabrielle Cooper tied her career-high in points (24) and Amaya Finklea-Guity set her season-high (18) while Syracuse (11-0) topped Coastal Carolina (5-5), 69-57, in the Carolinas Challenge.

“(Cooper) remained aggressive,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said of Cooper. “We really needed someone to dig in.

“I thought Amaya did a really good job of getting clean catches and finishing at the rim. She probably could have had some more. I thought she was amazing tonight.”

Cooper and Finklea-Guity’s production carried the Orange. The duo combined for 42 points, 16 rebounds and three steals. Their scoring output came after a string of less-impactful games. In Cooper’s last four games, she scored a total of 25 points. In Finklea-Guity’s last five contests, the freshman center had contributed 15 points.

The Orange offense, typically reliant on 3-pointers, attempted 18 shots from behind the arc, a season-low. Its previous season-low was 27 attempts. Cooper, SU’s only returning starter from a year ago, knocked down all four of SU’s 3s, including three in the first half. Coastal Carolina took the deep ball away from SU, Hillsman said, and the Orange offense looked inside to make up the production. Syracuse outscored its opponent, 42-24, in the paint.

“They did a good job of closing us out,” Hillsman said. “We took what they gave us… We tried to attack the basket.”

Syracuse’s scoring leader, Miranda Drummond, was held to four points on 1-for-6 shooting. It marked the first time all year she scored less than double-digit points. Her running partner, point guard Tiana Mangakahia, added 12 points and 12 assists for her ninth double-double of the year.

Tied in the latter half of the first quarter. SU went on an 11-0 run to separate itself from the Chanticleers. In the second frame, the lead hovered around 10 points as the teams traded buckets as Syracuse went into the half up 35-28.

Coastal Carolina cut the lead to 3 after an extended 9-0 run that spanned the final three minutes of the third quarter to the first minute of the fourth frame. Twenty-nine seconds after a DJ Williams layup made it a one-possession game, Mangakahia responded with a layup of her own. Digna Strautmane connected on a layup on SU’s next trip down the floor to push the lead to seven. Around one minute later, the lead was down to four before a Cooper 3-pointer iced the win.

The Orange defense held its opponent to under 60 points for just the third time this season. The Chanticleers’ leading scorer, Jas Adams, dropped 11 in the first half before being shut down in the second. She connected on a 3-pointer in the third quarter and didn’t score in the fourth.

SU led in most statistical categories including rebounds (40-38), field-goal percentage (43-35), points off turnovers (18-15), blocks (5-2), steals (9-5).

“On the road, right after exams, it’s a tough game,” Hillsman said. “We played a team that’s really scrappy. It’s a good win for our kids. They played hard.”

Syracuse faces its first ranked opponent, No. 5 Mississippi State (11-0), on Thursday in the Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas.

Published on December 17, 2017 at 10:04 pm

Contact Nick: [email protected] | @nick_a_alvarez