Virginia Tech’s Taylor Emery surveyed the floor with her hands stretched out in front of her. Her teammates surrounded her, and her coach scowled as Tiana Mangakahia skipped away from the play. Mangakahia joined her Syracuse teammates who celebrated on the sidelines. The Hokies pleaded for a foul, but the swipe of Mangakahia’s hand got the best of Emery and salvaged an SU win that it many times looked to surrender.

“Good teams find a way to win games,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said to SU athletics after the game, “and we have a good team.”

No. 14 Syracuse (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) topped Virginia Tech (13-2, 0-2), which compiled 59 votes in the AP Poll, 75-73, in overtime of a close back-and-forth game. Though their own turnovers and timely makes from the Hokies stunted the Orange, a late offensive surge from Mangakahia, again, lifted SU to its second conference win and its seventh-straight victory.

“Tiana came up big late,” Hillsman said. “That’s what she does.”

Last season, the Hokies delivered the Orange their first loss in the Carrier Dome. Then in the postseason, a 31-5 extended run by Virginia Tech knocked Syracuse out of the ACC tournament.

On Sunday, SU got off to a fast start in the first quarter, jumping out to a 24-12 lead. The Orange defense held the Hokies to just over 31 percent shooting and SU knocked down three 3-pointers on the other end of the floor. But the Hokies dominated the second quarter and went to the break down just three.

In the third quarter, as was the same in many parts of the game, the Orange looked to capture momentum — it would force a turnover and hit a shot to put it ahead by multiple possessions. But, again and again, SU would turnover the ball and surrender looks at the hoop to the Hokies. In the second half alone, Syracuse had multiple stretches of back-to-back turnovers.

After giving up the ball a season-low six times in the first half of the game, Syracuse turned it over five times in the third quarter, including two charging fouls.

Turnovers had been a problem for the Orange all season long, but SU is yet to feel the burden of its ball security issues. Syracuse ranks 275th in the nation with 18.5 turnovers per game, but many come as a result of a fast-paced playing style in its high octane, trigger-heavy offense. Hillsman said earlier in the season “there are no good turnovers” and Gabrielle Cooper said SU might soon face the consequence of turnovers when competition intensifies.

“On the road in this conference, it ain’t easy,” Hillsman said Sunday.

Though Sunday marked one of Syacuse’s lowest turnover totals of the season, the cough-ups came at key points of the game as the Orange tried to maintain its lead and push ahead. Instead, Virginia Tech would spend short periods in front as it clung to Syracuse.

But in the fourth quarter, Syracuse turned the ball over just one time. But SU’s problem returned. Mangakahia turned the ball over to the Hokies, Virginia Tech’s Regan Magarity drained a 3-pointer on the other end and, after Kiara Lewis split another pair of SU free throws, Emery went all the way up the court through an absent SU defense for the layup to tie the game.

But Mangakahia continued to provide Syracuse a boost. Despite an off-shooting night at just over 38 percent from the field, Mangakahia vaulted her four first half points to 27 by the time the final buzzer hit. She hit layups, 3’s and free throws all at pivotal moments of the game.

As the Orange have done so often this season, SU went to Mangakahia for the final shot of regulation, and the senior slipped beneath the rim in the immediate moment before the buzzer sounded. But her momentum brought her too far and she clanked the layup attempt under the cylinder.

“That was a blunder by me,” Hillsman said. “We had a timeout.”

Tied at 71 in overtime, Miranda Drummond — who couldn’t find the mark on any of her eight 3-pointers coming off a hot-shooting stretch — misfired on another 3. But just as Mangakahia had done all game, she gave the Orange life again and followed the miss. She pulled the ball out, walked up to the 3-point line and drained a shot that put the Orange up by 3. All SU needed was another swift play to seal the game.

“I told her to attack the rim,” Hillsman said. “But Syracuse style: she shot a 3.”

Published on January 6, 2019 at 5:35 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary