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This season, Syracuse has a goal to hold its opponents to under 59 points.

But through three games, it had done the complete opposite of that, allowing 84 points in each contest. In that stretch, SU dropped games to both Saint Joseph’s and No. 11 Maryland, falling to 1-2 on the year. This marked its first time below .500 under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

After each game, Legette-Jack harped on her team’s defensive struggles, saying that SU needed to defend the perimeter better. The Orange let both Maryland and SJU to sink over 50% of their 3-point attempts.

SU took Legette-Jack’s words into Sunday’s contest against Fairleigh Dickinson, which made clear from the start that its game plan was to bury SU from 3. But that didn’t work.

Syracuse (2-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) blew past FDU (4-1, 0-0 Northeast Conference) 77-58 Sunday, backed by its improved 3-point defense. The Knights only connected on 10-of-32 triples (31.2%), allowing the Orange to meet their point objective for the first time this season. On the other end, Syracuse spread the ball around, with 11 different players scoring, to help it break a two-game skid.

“Coming off two losses, that’s obviously not great for the confidence,” sophomore guard Sophie Burrows said. “I think the loss against Maryland, we stepped up our game, but we weren’t quite there. So I think this win really solidifies the work that we’ve been doing.”

Right out of the gate, Syracuse was on fire. Izabel Varejão sank a hook shot, then Kyra Wood made back-to-back layups. FDU head coach Stephanie Gaitley was forced to call a timeout three minutes in after Dominique Camp drilled a 3 to cap off SU’s 10-0 run.

Out of the break, both teams were unconscious from distance. Lilly Parke and Abaigeal Babore nailed triples for the Knights, but Burrows answered with two of her own. SU led 16-8 with five minutes left in the first.

Syracuse kept padding its lead, as Varejão and Wood tacked on two layups. Then, following a two-minute scoring drought, Camp dished a pass to Saniaa Wilson, who converted a contested layup. The first quarter ended with Syracuse leading 25-16 after Parke and Angelica Velez traded 3s.

In a complete 180 from the first period, both teams started the second quarter sloppily. First, Olivia Schmitt and Georgia Woolley missed 3s. Though on the defensive end, Syracuse blocked two FDU shots under the basket.

Then, Parke drilled her third of four 3s in the contest to cut SU’s lead to 27-20, but FDU missed two shots immediately after. Similarly, the Orange failed to make three put-back attempts on one possession, part of a stretch where SU missed nine straight shots.

“We didn’t dominate,” Legette-Jack said of the second quarter. “Going down the stretch, we kind of (thought) ‘Let’s try to get to the locker room.’”

After the media timeout, though, Syracuse heated up again. Woolley sank a left-handed shot in the paint, only her second and third points of the game. Burrows cashed in from 3 a minute later and Varejão added a put-back, putting the Orange up 38-26 with two to go.

To end the half, Teneisia Brown notched two layups, marking the Knights’ first points in the paint. This proved to be the difference at the break, as Syracuse led 40-30, largely due to its 20-4 advantage in paint points.

Syracuse’s hot hand continued into the third quarter. Though this time, FDU couldn’t respond. Woolley, who had been virtually nonexistent in the first half, catalyzed a 23-11 third-quarter disparity in favor of the Orange. To start, following a Ava Renninger triple, Woolley responded with her first of the game.

Next, after Keira Scott hit a mid-range floater, Woolley drained her second triple of the quarter. Despite the Knights’ best effort to take Syracuse’s leading scorer out of the game, its lead ballooned to 56-37 just five minutes in.

“Georgia, I feel like every game should affect people, trying to get her out of her game because she’s a great player,” Varejão said. “I feel like we always have to be prepared for everybody else to be behind her.”

The next three minutes saw only seven combined points, with Velez and Scott drilling floaters. Though Syracuse couldn’t get on the board in this stretch, it played stellar defense, only surrendering two free throws to Babore.

Then, Shy Hawkins came off the bench and immediately got involved. The freshman stole the ball from the Knights twice, then added a jumper minutes later as the Orange extended their lead to 63-41 with 10 minutes left.

Down by 22, FDU started to get desperate. It heaved up two deep triples to start the final frame, but misfired badly on both. Syracuse took advantage immediately, with Scott adding her seventh and eighth points of the half on a step-back jumper.

To end the game, poor shooting ensued for the Orange. They missed three shots in a row, and Renninger responded with a high-arcing jumper. Despite SU’s struggles, though, with five minutes left, the score still sat in its favor at 68-50.

While the game was all but over, Renninger drilled her first 3 of the game and Parke followed from distance to issue a response. Syracuse answered back right away, though, via Madeline Potts. The point guard notched her first five points of the contest, hitting a mid-range field goal and a deep 3-pointer.

After the mid-quarter timeout, Syracuse continued to miss shots, but it was a moot point. Despite talk of a potential regression from last year’s NCAA Tournament finish, SU’s defense propelled it back to .500, a necessary win in its fight to return to March.

“I think that if we give the talent a chance to emerge, if we trust ourselves, this team could be the team that really shocks everybody,” Legette-Jack said.

Published on November 17, 2024 at 3:59 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99