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Ahead of Syracuse’s matchup with No. 1 seed South Carolina in the 2016 Sweet 16, head coach Quentin Hillsman told the team that their flight back to central New York had already been scheduled. Center Briana Day remembered the conversation — few expected SU to make a deeper run, so the flight from Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to central New York was planned in anticipation of the season-ending loss.  

The pressure was minimal, Day said. The Gamecocks had eliminated the Orange the year prior in a 29-point thrashing, sending SU home in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. But in 2016, Syracuse defeated the Gamecocks 80-72 in the Sweet 16. And in the Elite Eight, the Orange pulled off the unexpected. Alexis Peterson dribbled near midcourt, fending off Tennessee’s Alexa Middleton while the clock at Denny Sanford PREMIER Center wound down.

After a game-high 29 points and six assists, Peterson fell to her knees and released the ball into the air as her teammates rushed to surround her in celebration. Syracuse was going to the Final Four for the first time in program history.

“We were doubted so much,” Day said. “We proved everyone wrong.”

Now, five years removed from the trip to the Final Four, former players, parents and coaches reflected on what remains the deepest run in program history. The Orange advanced all the way to the national championship game as the No. 4 seed, defeating Washington in the Final Four before falling to undefeated UConn in the title game. 

That year was Hillsman’s 10th at the helm for SU. With a roster of 10 upperclassmen, half of whom were seniors, the regular season culminated in his fourth straight tournament appearance — a far cry from the 20-loss year Hillsman had during his first as head coach. 

The Orange entered the 2016 NCAA Tournament with a different mindset because of their experience, Hillsman said during his end-of-season press conference this year. They had increased physical fitness and played tough, he said.

“We had a lot of players that had been through our program for four straight years, and they really built themselves into being champions,” Hillsman said at the conference when asked to look back at 2016.

The No. 4-seed Orange earned two home games in the NCAA Tournament by finishing 13-3 in Atlantic Coast Conference play during the year and making the ACC title game. Against Army and Albany, seniors such as Maggie Morrison and Brianna Butler had two last opportunities to play in the Carrier Dome, an opportunity seldom provided in the postseason.

“Being able to host at home was tremendous for us, and being able to get that fan support was amazing,” Butler said.

After winning both games by double-digits, SU moved on to the Sweet 16 in Sioux Falls. Against a South Carolina team that had lost only once that season, the Orange notched an eight-point victory. 

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Looking back on Syracuse’s 2016 women’s basketball run to the national championship:

• Chantel Osahor’s jumpless shot is a ‘God-given talent’
• Find out what Syracuse players put on their goal cards before the season
• Why Syracuse’s best shot blocker decided to stop blocking shots
• Syracuse’s press defense crumbles in national championship game loss to Connecticut
• Schwedelson: Syracuse’s Final Four run validates expectations for 2012 recruiting class

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When the team arrived in the locker room postgame, they looked at one another and realized that was the furthest anybody expected them to go, Morrison said. The underdog mentality continued motivating them in the Elite Eight against Tennessee, a team that had pulled off a two-point win over Syracuse in November, when star guard Brittney Sykes missed two free throws with six seconds remaining. 

“We were just always the underdog, always counted out,” Butler said. She said that people didn’t respect the style of play the Orange ran with — one that relied heavily on 3s en route to a 29.5% clip from deep and on three players shooting over 30% on at least 10 attempts.

Sykes’ mother, Regina, said the win against the Gamecocks was a turning point for the team. In the rematch against the Vols, with a Final Four spot on the line, Peterson provided the offensive spark the Orange needed. She tied a season-high 38 minutes, added a season-high in points and was named the region’s Most Outstanding Player, too. 

“I think she played like she had something to prove,” Peterson’s mother, Georgia, said. “I felt like she had to show (Tennessee) that… she was a force to be reckoned with.”

While Peterson’s offense led the way, the Orange limited the Volunteers to 11 fourth-quarter points while committing 21 total turnovers. Tennessee wasn’t prepared for SU’s zone defense, which relied on trapping and physicality to disrupt the Volunteers’ offense. SU’s defense forced at least 17 turnovers in each NCAA Tournament game during the run. SU’s defense was the biggest key to the entire season, Morrison said.

Syracuse’s 2016 team had five seniors and 10 upperclassmen. The team’s wealth of experience led SU deep in the Tournament, Hillsman said. Courtesy of SU Athletics

As the women’s team celebrated at their hotel in South Dakota, they watched the men’s team defeat No. 1 Virginia in its own Elite Eight game, making it the 12th time in NCAA history that both teams from a single school advanced to the Final Four in the same season. Students flooded Castle Court on SU’s campus, celebrating the tournament runs of two underdogs. 

Butler distinctly remembered that both teams advanced alongside one another to the Final Four, which made it more special. 

“It was just nice for the university as a whole to have both of their programs going that far in the tournament,” she said.

When Syracuse arrived for the Final Four in Indianapolis, they were met by a large group of fans who cheered them on their way to a 21-point victory over Washington. The win meant SU would have to meet UConn, a team that had only lost one game in the previous three seasons and featured Syracuse-native and unanimous AP Player of the Year Breanna Stewart. 

“I just remember (Hillsman) telling us ‘no pressure.’ The pressure wasn’t on us… it was on them because everyone expected them to win,” Day said. 

Even head coach Quentin Hillsman was surprised at the time by how far the Orange went in their March run to the NCAA championship. Courtesy of SU Athletics

The run ended April 5 against the Huskies, though, in a game that wasn’t even close. The Orange fell behind 7-0 early and lost by 31, but it still completed a season of many firsts for SU. The season marked SU’s first time advancing past the Sweet 16, the 30 wins were the most in school history, and the 2016 senior class finished with 99 wins — the most in program history. The Orange began rebuilding for the following season after losing five seniors, bringing in a class that included Tiana Mangakahia and Gabrielle Cooper.

“When you go to the Final Four, normally you have a veteran team, a lot of juniors and seniors,” Hillsman said. “Then you have to start over again and rebuild with some players, and we did that.”

Morrison’s father, Pat, attended all but one game during the 2015-16 season. He’d drive from his Maryland home, leaving before 2 p.m., and he particularly enjoyed walking up to the Dome from the parking lot with the rest of the parents. Morrison wouldn’t eat before games, so Pat handed a Snicker’s bar to the team manager for her to snack on before tipoff. After games, Pat and other parents would take the team out to dinner — most of the time, they ate at Tully’s — then Pat would head home.

There was something about that team that got you caught up in the excitement, a feeling that remains today, he said.

“I actually went into the gym and bumped into a couple of people I hadn’t seen a while just a few days ago, and they brought up the championship run,” Pat said. “Five years seems like forever ago, but (also like) yesterday. It’s still fresh in people’s minds. That’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

Four years before the run, then-high school seniors Sykes and Butler were sitting courtside at the 2012 McDonald’s All-American game in Chicago. Their fellow high school All-Americans were watching their future collegiate teams compete in the NCAA Tournament. Syracuse, on the other hand, was playing in the NIT. 

“In that moment, Brittany and I were like, ‘We’re going to go to the NCAA every year. We don’t want to go to the NIT. We want to take this program elsewhere,’” Butler said. 

That night, the two made a pact. They agreed that, each year, they’d push SU further in the tournament than the previous, with the eventual goal to win a championship. It started with a first-round exit in 2013, then a second round one in 2014 and 2015. By 2016, their senior year, Syracuse made its improbable run to the Final Four and championship game, the best run in program history.

Published on April 4, 2021 at 10:42 pm

Contact Connor: csmith49@syr.edu | @csmith17_