Engstler, Lewis help No. 18 Syracuse beat Houston 86-63

VICTORIA, British Columbia (AP) — Emily Engstler and Kiara Lewis flirted with triple-doubles and No. 18 Syracuse beat Houston 86-63 on Thursday night at the Greater Victoria Invitational.

Syracuse will play the winner of No. 3 Stanford or Cal Baptist in the semifinals, and Houston will play the loser in the consolation bracket, Friday.

Lewis had 17 points with career bests of nine rebounds and eight assists and Engstler finished with 14 points and added career highs of 15 rebounds and six assists. Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi scored 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Gabrielle Cooper, who hit 4 of 9 from 3-point range, added 14 points for Syracuse (4-1).

Engstler hit a 3 to spark an 8-2 spurt to close the first half that gave the Orange a 45-39 lead at the break and five different Syracuse players scored during a 10-0 run that made it 64-46 with four minutes left in the third quarter and the Cougars (3-3) trailed by at least 14 the rest of the way.

Dorian Branch and Dymond Gladney had 16 points apiece for Houston and Bria Patterson scored 13.

Syracuse outrebounded the Cougars 45-30 and outscored them 48-28 in the paint.