Syracuse basketball women’s backcourt among the best in the country

Syracuse basketball women’s guards Kiara Lewis and Tiana Mangakahia are both contenders for national player of the year.

The Syracuse basketball women’s team, ranked No. 23 in the Associated Press pre-season top-25 poll, will feature one of the premier backcourts not only in the Atlantic Coast Conference, but also nationwide, during the 2020-21 campaign.

The Orange athletics department said via a press release that guards Kiara Lewis and Tiana Mangakahia are on the 50-person watch list for the Naismith Trophy, which is awarded annually to the national player of the year in women’s college basketball.

That both the 5-foot-8 Lewis and the 5-foot-6 Mangakahia are up for this honor illustrates just how potent the ‘Cuse backcourt could potentially prove in the upcoming term.

Although the Orange finished a somewhat disappointing 16-15 a stanza ago, expectations are sky-high this year. The Syracuse basketball women’s squad returns four of five starters, has a deep bench, and boasts the No. 4 recruiting class within the 2020 cycle.

Plus, after battling Stage 2 breast cancer, Mangakahia is back. The team announced in early October that she received an extension of eligibility waiver from the NCAA to officially compete in 2020-21.

Other ACC players on the Naismith Trophy watch list, according to cuse.com, are Louisville’s Dana Evans and Hailey Van Lith, Boston College’s Taylor Soule, Notre Dame’s Sam Brunelle and N.C. State’s Elissa Cunane.

The Syracuse basketball women’s duo of sensational guards is landing national praise.

The Orange media statement says that the backcourt of Mangakahia and Lewis has combined for nearly 2,000 points in Central New York, and both players have earned All-ACC first-squad honors during their tenures on the Hill.

In the league’s two recently unveiled pre-season polls, one from the conference’s 15 head coaches and the second from a blue-ribbon panel, the ‘Cuse is picked to finish third, behind No. 1 Louisville and No. 2 N.C. State.

Lewis and Mangakahia are on the All-ACC pre-season unit. Additionally, Lewis is on the watch list for the 2021 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award, which honors the country’s top shooting guard. And Mangakahia is on the watch list for the 2021 Nancy Lieberman Award, given out each year to the nation’s best point guard.

The Syracuse basketball women’s team has learned its 2020-21 ACC schedule, and the program announced on cuse.com that the Orange will suit up versus Division II Lincoln at 7 pm on Wednesday, Dec. 2, from the Carrier Dome.

In 2019-20, Lincoln posted a team-record 23 victories against only six defeats. Last year, the Lions went 12-3 in their conference, the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association, and they fell in the first round of the league’s post-season tournament.