Syracuse Basketball: Orange women are picked 3rd in the ACC

The Syracuse Basketball return is on the horizon and there are sky-high expectations for the Orange women in 2020-21.  The ACC poll indicates a big season.

The Syracuse Basketball women’s team is loaded and poised for a deep run this season. Tuesday morning the Atlantic Coast Conference released their head coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel preseason polls for women hoops, which indicated both groups agree with that assessment.

Syracuse was chosen third by both polls and even received a pair of first-place votes from the Blue Ribbon Panel. The Orange are loaded with experience as their backcourt is projected to be lead by a pair of past first-team All-ACC performers in Tiana Mangakahia and Kiara Lewis in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

Mangakahia and Lewis are expected to both perform quite well together as well, as they both have been selected by the coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel to be All-ACC selections in their preseason poll.

Lewis and Mangakahia are not alone in expected production for the Orange. Emily Engstler stepped up for Syracuse a season prior and has shown playmaking abilities for herself and others from both the perimeter and inside. She could very well add a wrinkle to the Orange’s offense allowing Mangakahia and Lewis to play off the ball at the same time and spacing out opposing defenses.

Engstler will not be alone in the supporting cast Syracuse will have as they also return five others who averaged at least ten minutes a game last season, including Digna Strautmane, Amaya Finklea-Guity and Teisha Hyman.

On top of experience, they also have some of the most talented freshmen in the country joining the program. That includes Kamilla Cardoso who was on the coaches and Blue Ribbon Panel Newcomer Watch List.

ESPN’s recruiting services listed Cardoso as the number five recruit in the country, being joined in the top ten by Priscilla Williams and making Syracuse the only school with two top ten recruits in 2020. Head coach Quentin Hillsman and his staff also added another top 100 recruit in Faith Blackstone and along with four other three-star prospects to load on a very talented class.

They will need to replace the production of Gabrielle Cooper from the perimeter as she graduated with the second most three-point makes in program history. But with the return of Mangakahia and the additions of a talented recruiting class, the Orange are poised to withstand the loss and possibly take a large leap forward into title contention.

The ACC schedule is slated to be released on Wednesday.