No. 8 seed Syracuse (22-8, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) lost in its first ACC Tournament game to Virginia Tech, on March 1. The Orange didn’t make a field goal in the fourth quarter. No. 9 seed Oklahoma State (20-10, 11-7 Big 12) fell in its first conference tournament game on March 3, in a game in which the Cowgirls never led. Both teams have dealt with two week layoffs after underwhelming performances. Both teams have already played No. 1 seed Mississippi State this season, and the winner of this game will get a rematch, barring a monumental upset.

Here’s who our beat writers think will get a second crack at the Bulldogs.

Nick Alvarez
How ‘Bout Them Cowgirls
Oklahoma State 80, Syracuse 74

Oklahoma State and Syracuse both had their conference tournaments end in upset fashion. The Cowgirls went down early and couldn’t catch up to West Virginia, and the Orange choked late against Virginia Tech. The Hokies presented the blueprint to stop SU and Nancy Lieberman-snub Tiana Mangakahia: wait out the Orange press, focus two defenders on Mangakahia and hope the streaky-shooters miss shots. Look for grad transfer and skillful point guard Loryn Goodwin to neutralize Mangakahia and the 16-day layoff between games to limit SU’s 3-ball out of the gate. This makes frontcourt play the X-factor in the contest. While Digna Strautmane and Amaya Finklea-Guity have been more than serviceable in their freshman years, look for OSU’s 6-foot-4 center Kaylee Jensen (18.6 points and 10.8 rebounds per game, respectively) to make her veteran presence known. Whichever team can shake off the rust faster probably earns a rematch with No. 1 Mississippi State in the Round of 32, I bet that’s Oklahoma State.

Andrew Graham
Slow Pokes
Syracuse 85, Oklahoma State 78

The last time Syracuse played a basketball game, it ended on a 31-5 run for Virginia Tech and SU failed to make a field goal in the fourth quarter. It seems unlikely that anything like that will happen to the Orange this time around, especially since both teams love to run and gun. Both hyperspace offenses are run by first-year point guards — graduate transfer Goodwin for OSU and junior college transfer Mangakahia for SU. Both point guards will likely orchestrate their respective offenses to perfection, but the difference on Saturday is the piece around the floor generals. The offensive emergence of Strautmane coupled with Miranda Drummond and Gabrielle Cooper’s decently steady shooting give the Orange just enough juice to squeeze past the Cowgirls and on to a likely duel with the Bulldogs.

Billy Heyen
Gottlieb Game
Syracuse 79, Oklahoma State 74

Odds are, neither of these teams would be dancing without their point guards. For the Cowgirls, it’s grad transfer Goodwin leading in both scoring and assists. For the Orange, junior-college transfer Mangakahia holds both those team leads. In an interesting subplot, OSU was one of Mangakahia’s final choices before she decided to attend Syracuse, leading Goodwin to star in Stillwater. Each floor general is tops on their respective teams in minutes played and will lead the shootout from start to finish on Saturday. After a two-week layoff, SU will need sharpness from Mangakahia against a team that forces turnovers in bunches. And the youthful interior of Syracuse will have to shut down double-double machine Jensen inside. With a search for redemption after bowing out of the ACC Tournament in its first game, Syracuse will ride the country’s assist leader, Mangakahia, to a rematch with No. 1 seed Mississippi State.

Published on March 15, 2018 at 10:00 am