‘The difference in the game’: Strautmane has season-high 17 points versus WF

The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. Consider donating today to support our mission.

Pregame in the Carrier Dome, Digna Strautmane posed alongside head coach Quentin Hillsman at midcourt, holding a white basketball with Tuesday’s date and the words “1,000 career points” written in black marker. When the PA announcement of her achievement rang throughout the fanless Dome, every other SU player cheered and clapped from the bench. They swamped her in a big huddle after the celebration concluded, too. 

Just two days earlier, Strautmane had sunk a corner 3-pointer for her 1,000th career point at Syracuse. In a game that SU had trailed by as many as 18 in the first half, Strautmane’s historic shot — making her the 31st player in program history to reach 1,000 points — brought the Orange within three. SU couldn’t pull off yet another comeback, but Strautmane’s momentum carried into Thursday’s game against Wake Forest. 

“That pregame celebration, I feel like that gave me energy and … maybe (more) confidence,” Strautmane said postgame.

Back home, where the Orange are now 7-0 this season, Strautmane tied a season-high of 14 points by halftime and finished with 17 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals. The senior forward has been a consistent force during her four years at SU, starting in all but one of 110 games she’s played in. Thursday was no different. 

Her confidence showed in the first half, Hillsman said. She didn’t hesitate, catching the ball and shooting immediately. Strautmane heated up at the end of the first half and Syracuse (10-4, 7-4 Atlantic Coast) pulled away in the third quarter, beating Wake Forest (8-8, 5-7) 85-78 to remain undefeated at home. Strautmane kept the Orange close in the first half and was strong defensively all night, too. She played all 40 minutes.

“Digna was aggressive right away,” Hillsman said postgame. “That was the difference in the game, just how aggressive she was immediately … And I know when she comes out aggressive and plays that way, she’s going to have some solid numbers.”

Strautmane scored Syracuse’s first points of the night when Tiana Mangakahia dished a pass to her right, connecting with the senior forward, who dispatched the deep effort. Strautmane finished 7-of-13 from the field and 3-of-6 from beyond the arc. 

At the end of the second quarter, Priscilla Williams and Strautmane produced an elegant combination play when Williams dished to her teammate at the top of the arc and cut to the rim. Strautmane put the ball on the money, and Williams finished through heavy contact, going to ground but still getting two points to tie the game at 28. 

Strautmane went back to work moments later, when she pulled up at the left elbow for a jump shot and returned to the free-throw line on the next possession for a pull-up jumper. She rejected Wake Forest’s Ivana Raca’s jump shot from inside.

Wake Forest scored second-chance points to take a one-point lead, one of eight lead changes on Thursday night. But on the next possession, Syracuse moved the ball around the arc before Mangakahia unleashed a fiery cross-court pass that found Strautmane on the right side of the arc. 

She checked her footing and swished a 3-pointer, her third consecutive make. That shot tied her season-high — and the half wasn’t even up yet. She exuded confidence, guard Kiara Lewis said postgame.

“I don’t know, I was just shooting,” Strautmane said when asked of her mindset at the end of the first half. “Girls were finding me open, and I felt like I just needed to shoot.”

Defensively, Hillsman said Strautmane stayed vertical and “did a good job of really settling down and taking care of her side of the zone.” On the very next possession, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi tossed up a rare 3-pointer that bricked off the back rim. Strautmane positioned herself between two Wake Forest defenders and outjumped them both. She couldn’t finish the second-chance points, but she went to ground, laying out for the loose ball later that play. 

Strautmane tied a season-high with four blocks, too. She said postgame that “running through the plays” was the key because she didn’t give up on them. 

Late in the game, she responded to Raca’s 3-pointer with one of her own and continued to pressure the Wake Forest forward and get a hand up, defensively, to make shooting more difficult. Raca finished with 16 points but shot only 6-of-21 from the field, matching up with Strautmane for the majority of the game. 

Strautmane charged forward as Raca received a pass in the fourth quarter facing her own basket. Strautmane immediately applied pressure, and seconds later, the loose ball was recovered by Lewis and converted into two free throws from Kamilla Cardoso on the other end. Strautmane had reached Raca around and jarred the ball loose. 

In the first quarter, the senior forward started in the corner and cut inside. She’d just sunk SU’s first points of the game, and then she cut into the paint, rounding her defender and looping around to the right side of the bucket. She tossed in a layup that dropped and jogged back, just two points of a season-high showing.

“Digna’s been great,” Hillsman said. “1,000 points anywhere is just a great, great career, and she has a lot more to go.”