THE FLATS – Georgia Tech women’s basketball recorded its sixth-straight Atlantic Coast Conference win on Tuesday night, defeating Syracuse in a convincing 76-63 win. Three Yellow Jackets – Lorela Cubaj, Kierra Fletcher and Eylia Love – posted double-figure scoring numbers, lifting Tech to a 10-3 overall record and 8-2 conference ledger.
The Yellow Jackets shot 66.7 percent (10-15) in the first quarter, including an 80.0 percent (4-5) effort from three-point range to hold a 16-point lead after the first stanza. Tech built its lead back out to 17 points early in the second frame before the Orange put together an 8-1 run to close within 32-22 with 4:56 to play. Tech answered holding off the rally to lead 40-27 at halftime. Fletcher and Cubaj combined to score 23 points in the first half as Tech also went 8-for-11 at the free throw line, while Syracuse was held without a trip to the charity stripe.
The Orange came out of halftime and posted an 8-0 spurt to force a Tech timeout, narrowing the score to 40-35. The Jackets would build their lead back out to double-digits in the frame, but Syracuse used another 8-0 run bridging both quarters to slice the score to 54-51 with 8:27 to play in the fourth. Cubaj snapped the streak as the Jackets began to answer the Orange and shot 8-for-10 from the field in the frame to regain a comfortable double-digit advantage.