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At the end of the first quarter, Najé Murray dropped back into her spot on the right side of the backline in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Virginia’s Eleah Parker looked to pass toward the left corner, but Murray extended her right hand, creating a turnover that led to a transition layup.

The Cavaliers answered on the other end, forcing Syracuse to move fast on its next possession with nine seconds left in the period. Virginia left no openings inside, and Chrislyn Carr quickly gave the ball to Murray again.

Even though she was only a few steps away from the logo, Murray unleashed the deep heave, beating the buzzer. She shuffled backward, keeping her right hand in the air with three fingers lifted after her 3-pointer solidified a 10-point SU lead.

“Big time shot right there at a big time moment,” acting head coach Vonn Read said postgame. “We definitely needed it, and (Murray) delivered.”

Outside shooting and transition offense, along with Murray’s season-high 24 points, helped Syracuse (9-12, 3-9 Atlantic Coast) pick up its first road win, 77-70, over Virginia (3-18, 0-11 ACC) on Tuesday. Murray, who posted double-digit points for the fifth straight game, finished 8-of-11 from the field, including five makes from deep.

“You have some games like that where you go through it a little bit, but (Murray) can come out and score 25 points in a game,” Read said in January.

Both teams started slow, trying to set up 3-point opportunities. Virginia’s attempts didn’t fall in while Syracuse was able to get Murray and Christianna Carr open for a pair of good opportunities.

Murray put the Orange on the scoreboard with a wide-open shot from the left wing. Then on Syracuse’s ensuing possession, it sent an array of passes around the arc, eventually landing in the hands of Christianna at the left corner. Overall, SU had seven attempts from 3-point range in the first five minutes of the game.

Syracuse’s shots stopped falling at the start of the second quarter. After reaching 30 points, the Orange didn’t score for another six minutes, allowing the Cavaliers to attempt a comeback.

Virginia attacked from deep, specifically from the left wing, where Murray was positioned in the zone. Following a miss from Christianna, Amandine Toi took a few steps in and hit a mid-range jumper. Christianna missed again, this time on a wide-open corner 3, giving McKenna Dale the chance to answer from deep. She did, cutting Syracuse’s lead down to eight.

After a layup lessened the Orange’s lead by two more points, Alaina Rice finally scored. She gathered a defensive rebound and connected on the putback while also earning a trip to the line. Though Rice missed the free throw, Syracuse secured a 32-24 lead.

At the start of the second half, Murray started to distribute the ball instead of taking her own shot from beyond the arc. For the first points of the third quarter, Murray found a cutting Alaysia Styles for a layup deep into the shot clock.

Then, after hitting another pull-up 3-pointer, Murray sent a long pass to Christianna in the left corner on the Orange’s next possession. Despite her earlier misses, Christianna took the wide-open shot and connected to give Syracuse a 15-point lead.

The Cavaliers continued to fight back, using their size — an advantage that most of SU’s opponents have used against it this season. Mir McLean and Parker did most of the damage with this edge over the Orange, backing down Styles on multiple possessions to get tough layups.

Murray ended the Orange’s three-minute scoreless streak following another layup from the Cavaliers. She took the offense into her own hands, driving toward the right baseline before fading back for a jumper. Murray scored her 19th point, maintaining a 15-point lead for Syracuse.

“I know what’s the right shot; I know the timely shot,” Murray said earlier this season. “I think that my teammates know when I’m going to shoot it.”

Virginia started to key in on Murray defensively at the start of the fourth quarter, trying to keep two defenders close to her at all times. Murray took a pair of defenders with her as she wrapped around to the right side of the court on the Orange’s first possession of the period, freeing up a lane for an SU cutter. Teisha Hyman recognized this opening, looking to pass to Murray before sending it to Christianna for a layup.

With less than three minutes left in the game, Styles attempted to drive down the left side of the court. Virginia’s defensive adjustments on Murray were absent, leaving only one defender on her.

Styles continued to back down her defender, and Murray was left wide-open a few steps away from the 3-point line, allowing her to set her feet before Styles even passed the ball.

Once it was in her hands, Murray did what she had already done multiple times from the same spot, putting the ball in the bottom of the net to set a new season-high. She went to the line with 22 seconds in the fourth quarter, sinking both to further cushion the Orange’s lead.

“(Murray) really came out and set the tone,” Read said. “That’s what she was doing for us earlier in the season, and I knew she would be able to step up in a game like this.”

Published on February 8, 2022 at 8:17 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu