Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman has said multiple times that his goal in the ACC is to protect home court and take some games on the road. He said if that if he can do that, the Orange will be be a tournament team this season.

And with Sunday’s 27-point win over Boston College, just three days after its program-record 17th-straight home win Thursday night against Pittsburgh, Hillsman is staying true to his word.

No. 24 Syracuse (17-7, 8-3 Atlantic Coast) smashed Boston College (8-16, 1-10), 72-45, Sunday afternoon at the Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Mass. It was SU’s third-straight win, and ties the Orange with No. 15 Duke for second place in the ACC, behind No. 6 Florida State and No. 7 Notre Dame, which both sit at 9-1 in conference play.

“Our kids played really hard today, we played with a lot of effort,” Hillsman said. “And that was the game for us, we had to come out here and play hard.”

Senior guard Alexis Peterson led the Orange attack, notching 26 points for her record 44th-straight game with double-digit scoring. She also added eight rebounds, eight assists and six steals.

Brittney Sykes tallied 18 points alongside Peterson, becoming the fourth-leading scorer in program history with 1,673 career points.

“We’re in good shape, we’ve got players scoring the basketball, playing down hill, playing in the paint playing at the rim,” Hillsman said. “And that’s a major key for us, to be in attack mode all the time.”

Julia Chandler scored 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, a career-high in 3-point shots attempted for the sophomore.

Chandler has struggled with scoring this season, averaging just 3.1 points per game. But her season-high 12 on Sunday matched her mark from Nov. 27 against DePaul, and added her to the list of four Orange players in double digits.

“We ran some sets with her to get her the ball early, and she did a really good job of knocking down some shots,” Hillsman said of Chandler. “When she does that, she can help us, and I’m really happy for her that she shot the ball with confidence.”

The Orange defense held the Eagles starters to just 22 points in Sunday’s contest, allowing less than 50 total points for the fourth time this season. The Eagles also totaled 16 turnovers, and were outrebounded by the Orange, 26 to 44.

Georgia Pineau led the Eagles with 14 points off the bench, shooting 4-of-11 from the field and adding a perfect six-for-six free throw showing. No other BC player scored in double digits, and the Eagles’ offense shot a combined 3-for-12 from beyond the arc.

“(Our goal) was to not give up open threes,” Hillsman said. “We sped the game up, and we were able to guard them. I thought that we just did a really good job of getting matched up early, and run the shot clock.”

Published on February 5, 2017 at 5:25 pm

Contact Matt: mjfel100@syr.edu