Boston College women rally from 19 down to beat Syracuse in opening round of ACC Tournament 76-73

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — Dontavia Waggoner scored a career-high 32 points, Teya Sidberry added 24 points and a career-high 17 rebounds and Boston College rallied from a 17-point halftime deficit to beat Syracuse 76-73 on Wednesday in the opening round of the ACC Tournament.

The 12th-seeded Eagles (16-16) will play fifth-seeded and No. 14-ranked North Carolina in Thursday’s second round. The Tar Heels won their only regular-season meeting with BC 80-67 on Jan. 12.

Waggoner was 12-of-24 shooting and had nine rebounds while Sidberry was 9 of 16.

Sophie Burrows led the 13th-seeded Orange (12-18) with 23 points. Georgia Woolley added 16 and Kyra Wood 15.

Syracuse had a double-digit lead early, led by as many as 19 and remained in front until BC came out with pressure in the second half and finally caught the Orange early in the fourth quarter before taking its first lead at 74-73 on JaKayla Thompson’s short jumper with 1:27 to go.

After the teams twice exchanged turnovers, Syracuse called timeout with 20 seconds to go. Wood missed near the basket and after a wild scramble the Eagles came up with the ball, Waggoner had to leave after being shaken up and Sidberry made two free throws on the other end. The Orange had a final chance but Woolley threw up a well-defended 3-point attempt that was well short.

The teams split their regular-season series. Syracuse won the most recent meeting, 82-57, to end the regular season on Sunday when Waggoner didn’t have a field goal and scored only five points.

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