No. 12 Syracuse (15-2, 4-0 Atlantic Coast) rode a terrific third quarter and blew out Pittsburgh (9-9, 0-4), 82-50, on Thursday night in the Petersen Events Center.

Digna Strautmane led SU with a season-high 22 points, while totaling one assist, block, steal and three rebounds. Tiana Mangakahia followed up her record triple-double performance with 14 points and eight assists. Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi made all seven of her shots for 16 points, continuing her great rookie season. And Kiara Lewis also chipped in 11 points, six boards and two assists in the Orange’s ninth straight win.

“I thought it was our balance,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We played a lot of players. We scored with a lot of players tonight. We really had that balance.”

Syracuse’s forwards — Djaldi-Tabdi, Strautmane and Amaya Finklea-Guity — scored 10 of SU’s first 19 points. Two Gabrielle Cooper 3s gave the Orange a three-point lead in the final minute of the period. A Miranda Drummond steal and layup gave Syracuse 21 points on 52.9-percent shooting.

Pitts Danielle Garven and Jasmine Whitney cut the lead to one in the opening minutes of the second quarter. Strautmane led the Orange, hitting two 3s in clutch moments to extend SU leads. Consistent Orange shooting — they made three 3s in seven attempts — preserved the margin as SU held a 38-32 lead entering the half.

“We’ve been out a little bit,” Hillsman said. “We’ve been traveling a lot. We did a good job this week of getting rested … I think in the first half we got a little bit of the rust off.”

Mangakahia and Strautmane combined for an 8-0 SU run with a pair of 3s and two free throws. That established a 10-point lead which was expanded by the same duo later in the quarter to give the Orange a 20-point lead. The final frame featured seven more Syracuse field goals and a routine SU victory.

The Orange outshot (43.9 percent to 31.0) and out-rebounded (51-32) the Panthers, while Pitt only led for 35 seconds.

“To be honest, we’re just worried about stacking up wins,” Hillsman said, “especially on the road.”

Syracuse travels to Georgia Tech (12-5, 2-2) on Sunday at 2 p.m before returning to the Carrier Dome to play Miami on Jan. 23.

Published on January 17, 2019 at 9:56 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez