GREENSBORO, N.C. (theACC.com) – Clemson entered this year’s ACC Women’s Basketball Tournament on a four-game losing skid, 19 days removed from its most recent win.
For Delicia Washington and her Tiger teammates, the drought had lasted long enough.
Washington poured in 33 points and added 11 rebounds with six assists as the 13th-seeded Tigers downed No. 12 seed Syracuse 88-69 in opening-round action Wednesday at Greensboro Coliseum.
Clemson (10-20) moves on to Thursday’s 11 a.m. second-round game versus fifth-seeded Virginia Tech (21-8). The Hokies defeated the Tigers 73-42 in the regular-season meeting between the teams in Blacksburg on Feb. 8.
Washington’s 33 points on Wednesday tied for the second-most by a Clemson player in an ACC Women’s Tournament game, trailing only Barbara Kennedy’s 36 versus NC State in the 1981 semifinal. Kennedy also scored 33 twice in the 1982 tournament.
For Clemson, Wednesday's 19-point victory represented a 59-point turnaround from an 86-46 loss at Syracuse in December. The Tigers turned things around in the rematch by shooting 56.7 from the floor (34-for-61), 17-for-20 from the foul line and out-rebounding the Orange 42-29.
Hannah Hank added 17 points for Clemson on 7-for-8 shooting from the floor, while Amari Robinson scored 12 points and Daisha Bradford 11.
The Tigers led most of the afternoon, but only by a four-point margin (60-56) early in the fourth quarter. Clemson pulled away from there, with Washington scoring 10 points in the final 8:19.
Teisha Hyman finished with 25 points to lead Syracuse (11-18), and Chrislyn Carr had 20, but the Orange was hurt by a 4-for-24 shooting day from 3-point range, in addition to the Tigers’ dominance in transition and on the boards.
OF NOTE
- The meeting between the Orange and Tigers was only the 12th in the history of the two programs with Syracuse holding a dominating 10-2 lead overall. Clemson tied the season series at 1-1, with Syracuse winning the first matchup 86-46 on Dec. 11.
- Syracuse fell to 2-17 while trailing at halftime. The Orange trailed Clemson 38-32 at the break.
- With just six players logging minutes, Wednesday’s defeat was the fourth game in which the Orange finished with zero total bench points.
- Clemson won just its second game of the season when losing the turnover margin (2-10).
- The Tigers improved to 5-1 when scoring between 80-89 points on the season.
- Delicia Washington finished in double figures for the 23rd game this season. Her 33 points led all scorers and stands her second-most scored points of the season and of her career (40 points versus Georgia Tech on Feb. 13 of this season).
- The Tigers’ 19-point victory ranks as the 10th largest opening-round victory in ACC Tournament history.
- Washington joins a group of five other players to finish with 33 points scored in an ACC Tournament contest.