Syracuse’s Amaya Finklea-Guity tipped the opening jump ball back to Tiana Mangakahia, who brought the ball up the floor. She quickly found Miranda Drummond open on the left wing. Drummond wasted no time knocking the 3 down.

The assist was Mangakahia’s 283rd of the season. She entered the day tied with former Notre Dame star Lindsay Allen for single-season assists. After Drummond’s shot fell through the basket, the public address announcer let the crowd know that Mangakahia had broken the ACC’s single-season assist record.

“It’s a great honor to be the leader of that,” Mangakahia said.

SU’s point guard went on to finish the game with six assists to go with a team-high 22 points. Another standout performance from the sophomore point guard from Australia was enough to lead Syracuse (22-7, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) over Boston College (7-22, 2-14 ACC), 69-63, in the Carrier Dome.

“You look at the guards (who’ve played in the ACC), you’re almost like you’re speechless,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “You come in the first year in the best conference in the country and you break that record, it’s an amazing, amazing feat.”

The Orange and Mangakahia got off to a quick start Sunday. Midway through the first quarter, she found Abby Grant open on the right wing, and Grant knocked down her first 3 since Nov. 25. On the next possession, Mangakahia did it herself with a stepback 3-pointer from the left wing.

A few minutes later, still in the first quarter, Mangakahia stole the ball and pushed it down the middle of the floor. She set up Drummond for what looked to be an open 3 on the left side, but instead, Drummond dished it down low to Finklea-Guity for an easy bucket.

“(My teammates and coaches) having that confidence (in me),” Mangakahia said, “gives me the confidence to come out and do what I do.”

Syracuse led by as many as 11 in the first quarter, its largest margin of the game. The Eagles kept the game close from that point on, though, and Mangakahia needed to keep the Orange on track.

After BC had gotten within six points in the second quarter, Mangakahia drove left and got all the way to the basket, finishing with her left hand. And after Boston College took its first lead of the game late in the second, Mangakahia went to the stepback again, this time from the right wing, and knocked down another 3 to give SU a two-point halftime lead.

“She did a really good job of playing hard today,” Hillsman said, “and she’s done this all season.”

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Mangakahia kept getting the ball to her teammates early in the third. She inbounded the ball from underneath the offensive basket and found Digna Strautmane with a simple bounce pass that the 6-foot-2 freshman put off the glass for the bucket. Then, after feeding Gabrielle Cooper on a missed 3, Mangakahia went right back to Cooper on the next possession, who hit nothing but net.

With the game tied entering the fourth, it was time for Mangakahia to embrace a familiar role: closer. On the first possession of the final frame, she drove right and scooped a shot around the taller defender in front of her, off the glass and in.

After BC took a 52-51 lead, Mangakahia found Cooper on the right wing again for a 3 to put SU back ahead. Then Mangakahia, who said postgame that she knew the Eagles were sagging off of her, pulled up at the free-throw line and hit a jumper. She hit another shot 30 seconds later after driving, planting her left foot and fading off of one leg — like the Dallas Mavericks’ Dirk Nowitzki — to put SU up by three.

“I was just going out and doing what I needed to do to get the win,” Mangakahia said.

Mangakahia drove right again with just over a minute left and scooped the ball off the glass and in again to put the Orange up six. When it came time, Mangakahia headed to the free-throw line, needing to make her shot. And she did, making 6-of-6 in the game’s final 20 seconds to ice it for the Orange.

“We don’t win without her,” Hillsman said. “… You try to get a point guard to come in and take over your team and play well. And she’s taken over our team and played well.”

As Syracuse’s players ran off the floor, all but one went straight down the tunnel unimpeded.

First, a young girl wanted her picture taken and Mangakahia obliged with a smile on her face. Then, more youngsters lined the walkway to the tunnel, holding posters for Mangakahia to autograph. She found a Sharpie and started signing away.

Four months ago, Mangakahia was coming off a two-year game layoff after not playing at her junior college. On Sunday, Mangakahia walked off the court as the one player everyone wanted a piece of and the best player on a surefire NCAA Tournament team.

“(The record) is one of those things where you don’t realize it until you’re two, three, four years removed from what you’ve done,” Hillsman said. “Something no one can ever take from her.”

Published on February 25, 2018 at 5:40 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3