It did not take long for Syracuse to receive its “Welcome to the Atlantic Coast Conference” moment.

When the Orange took the floor at Reynolds Coliseum on Sunday afternoon for its first ever ACC contest as a member school, it was greeted by 3,485 North Carolina State fans.

Against the Wolfpack (14-1, 1-0 ACC), No. 20 SU (11-3, 0-1) proved it was up for the challenge, but was ultimately defeated in a back-and-forth contest that featured 14 lead changes and seven ties. N.C. State overcame a nine-point deficit in the final minutes to beat SU 67-61 in Raleigh, N.C.

“It’s a great conference and obviously it was an unbelievable environment in there,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “… N.C. State has six seniors and they are a very veteran basketball team. These are kids that are going to play at a high level. A veteran team playing at home is a great advantage.”

Between Syracuse’s zone defense and N.C. State going underneath SU’s on-ball screens, the game was a 3-point shootout. The Orange (27) and Wolfpack (21) combined for 48 3-point attempts, with SU making 10 – three apiece from Brianna Butler, La’Shay Taft and Rachel Coffey, and one 3 from Brittney Sykes.

The Wolfpack made eight of its 21 attempts.

In the first half alone, 16 of SU’s 30 shots were from beyond the 3-point line, and 11 of N.C. State’s 28 first-half attempts were from beyond the arc.

No one took more 3s than Coffey, who took 11. In the first four minutes of the game alone, the SU point guard hoisted four 3s, but made just one.

The deep shooting was contagious. Sykes — who normally looks to finish around the rim — made a 3 at 14:28 to cut an early N.C. State lead to 14-12.

Then just before halftime, Taft hit two 3s and the Orange went into the break in front 36-32.

In the second half, both teams continued to take shots from the perimeter.

Thirty seconds into the second half, Coffey made yet another 3, but N.C. State’s Krystal Barrett responded with one of her own to cut SU’s lead to 39-35.

Back to back 3s from Miah Spencer and Kody Burke brought the Wolfpack to within one at 47-46 with 11:10 remaining.

With 5:27 remaining in the game and the Orange leading 55-54, Sykes fouled out. Just 13 seconds later, the Wolfpack took a 56-55 lead, and Hillsman recognized the significance of losing Sykes.

“That was critical because it changes a lot of things we do,” Hillsman said. “It changes our press. It changes a ton of things. But at the end of the day it’s really about making plays.”

But with one of SU’s stars off the court, its other star stepped up. Butler ended a 10-0 Wolfpack run with a 3-pointer with 2:59 left, bringing the Orange to within two at 58-56. After a three-point play from Burke, Butler responded with another 3-pointer at the 2:18 mark, putting SU on top again.

Spencer hit the first of two free throws with 27 seconds left to give the Wolfpack a 63-61 lead, but missed the second. Despite winning the rebounding battle 36-to-33 for the game, the Orange couldn’t bring down the most crucial missed shot.

“They got a long rebound over the top,” Hillsman said. “It’s one of those things where we have to pay attention to detail.”

Len’Nique Brown and Myisha Goodwin-Coleman hit free throws to ice the game at 67-61.

Hillsman said after the game he was proud of his players’ effort and thought they played extremely tough.

Said Hillsman: “It was a good experience overall for our team to get on the road and learn what it takes to win a game like this.”

Published on January 5, 2014 at 7:48 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu