As Clemson climbed nearly all the way back, Syracuse went to its leading scorer.

Holding only a two-point lead with 1:45 left, Alexis Peterson stepped back at the top of the key and knocked down a crucial jump shot.

And after Clemson’s Shelbie Davenport made a 3-pointer to cut the lead to one, Peterson hit a nearly identical shot, again at the top of the key to keep the Orange in the lead with 58 seconds left.

“That really won the game for us,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “… It was huge. If she doesn’t make those, it’s a way different situation.”

No. 23 Syracuse (21-8, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) held off a late Clemson (9-19, 1-14) run to secure the 60-55 win on Thursday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. Four Syracuse players finished in double-figures, a stat that Hillsman has highlighted as a goal for each game.

Early in the second half, Diamond Henderson suffered what appeared to be a serious left knee injury. Later in the game, she sat on the bench with ice on her leg and Hillsman said she will be evaluated when the team returns from the road.

SU has already secured a first-round bye in next week’s ACC tournament and will receive a double bye if Duke loses to North Carolina on Sunday.

Either way, Hillsman said if his team can hit shots and get organized in its full-court press like it did on Thursday, Syracuse could make a deep postseason run.

“We can turn people over and create offense with our defense,” Hillsman said, “and you never know how far we can go.”

Early on in Thursday night’s game, it looked as if the Orange would close out the regular season with an easy win. Forcing Clemson into 13-first half turnovers, SU led by 10 at the half and by 16 with 15 minutes left.

“We did a very good job of applying our pressure and everything,” Hillsman said, “so we came out and made our stops early and was able to get our defense set.”

But with a 50-36 lead and 11 minutes left in the game, Clemson made a 19-6 run. Nikki Dixon and Tiffany Lewis combined for 13 of the Tigers’ points as CU took advantage of SU’s 1-for-11 stretch from the field — which Peterson ended by hitting the two jump shots at the top of the key to push the Orange to 58 points.

Said Hillsman: “We just got organized and got some rebounds and I thought that was the key.”

Published on February 26, 2015 at 11:03 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds