Tiana Mangakahia makes first-team All-ACC, 2 Syracuse freshmen earn accolades
Codie Yan | Staff Photographer
Syracuse’s (22-7, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) Tiana Mangakahia was named first-team All-ACC on Tuesday. Digna Strautmane and Amaya Finklea-Guity, SU’s two-tallest players, both were recognized as All-Freshman performers in the conference.
Mangakahia, a sophomore, made both the media and coaches’ first teams. She is in her first season at Syracuse after spending two years at a junior college. The 5-foot-6 point guard from Australia leads the country in assists (288) and assists per game (9.93). She also averages 17.8 points per game. In Syracuse’s win on Sunday over Boston College, she became the single-season assists record holder in the ACC when she picked up her 283rd assist on the first play of the game. Her biggest night in a season full of highlights was a 44-point outing in a win on Jan. 4 over Georgia Tech.
Mangakahia’s inclusion on the first team makes it the third-straight year a Syracuse player received the honors. In 2016, Alexis Peterson made first-team All-ACC and in 2017 she made it again and was joined by Brittney Sykes.
A 6-foot-2 forward from Riga, Latvia, Strautmane won ACC Rookie of the Week for two consecutive weeks in the middle of the season. She was recognized on the media and coaches’ all-freshman teams in the ACC. That was in the midst of a stretch where she scored 12, 16, 25, 20, 22 and 13 points over a six-game span. She’s averaged 10.1 points and 6.3 rebounds per game and leads the Orange with just under two blocks per game.
A five-star recruit in this freshman class, Finklea-Guity was recognized by the coaches on their all-freshman team. She took a while to become acclimated to the speed of the college game. But in recent weeks, the Orange has looked to her more in the post, where she utilizes both a right-handed and left-handed hook shot to great success. The 6-foot-4 Finklea-Guity has shot 50.3 percent from the field for the season to go with 6.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
The ACC tournament gets underway on Wednesday with the lowest six seeds playing. Syracuse’s first game is Thursday, when the eight-seed Orange take on the nine-seed Virginia Tech. The contest tips-off at 2 p.m. in Greensboro, North Carolina. The Hokies beat SU at home earlier this season on a night that Syracuse made just 8-of-43 shots from downtown.
Published on February 27, 2018 at 2:49 pm
Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3