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After three straight losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, Syracuse women’s basketball started slowly at home against Colgate. The Orange were down by as many as six in the first quarter, but after a jumper from Chrislyn Carr, they never relinquished their lead for the rest of the outing.

By the start of the third quarter, Syracuse was up by 18, led by Chrislyn’s 20 points and Najé Murray’s 17. The Orange shuffled through their use of the full-court press and created turnovers and moved quickly in transition. Syracuse finished with 13 steals and 17 points off turnovers.

Here are some observations from SU’s 79-57 win over Colgate:

Zone into the press

Anchoring the press throughout the game for the Orange was Teisha Hyman, who has been able to create chemistry with Murray to try and trap defenders.

“Give (Najé) credit, she and I got a little thing going on, we kind of fed off each other,” Hyman said after the Orange’s win over Morgan State. “Sometimes Chrislyn too.”

Chrislyn was the first to find success defensively, stealing the ball as Hyman and Murray played hard defense right next to her. The three players spread out on Colgate’s side of the court after each offensive possession with Hyman in the middle, Murray on the right and Chrislyn on the left.

But when the Raiders did get past the press, they found success from deep. By stringing together multiple passes and forcing SU’s defense to constantly shuffle in the zone, players like Jenna Paul emerged wide open. At the start of the second quarter, Morgan Frank got open in the right corner, swishing her attempt while Chrislyn ran to block her.

Chrislyn Carr stays hot

Throughout Syracuse’s 88-79 loss against Buffalo, Chrislyn kept the Orange within reach of the Bulls with 23 points. That outing was tied for the most points Syracuse had scored since its season-opening win over Monmouth when it scored 87.

Chrislyn found success against Buffalo from beyond the arc, going 5-for-6 — her best percentage of the season. After scoring off a steal in the first quarter against Colgate, Chrislyn set up from deep at the end of the period, giving the Orange their first lead of the game.

In the second quarter, Chrislyn hit one more 3, but she was able to find more success in transition, using her speed to get past the Raiders as they fell back on defense. On Syracuse’s first possession of the game, she showed off her ability to separate when guarded one-on-one, using one crossover to beat her defender and go into the lane for an easy layup. By halftime Chrislyn had 16 points, more than any other player on both sides.

Replacing injured players

Syracuse entered its matchup against Colgate without three of its players, all set to return in a “day-to-day” timetable according to acting head coach Vonn Read. Priscilla Williams, Jayla Thornton and Eboni Walker made up the trio, though Williams had already been out for the entirety of the season. Walker and Thornton were recently injured during the Orange’s three losses in the Bahamas.

Although Walker and Thornton were not in the starting lineup when they were healthy, they were crucial in the Orange’s rotation. But to mitigate the lack of the duo, Read kept his starting lineup — Chrislyn, Alaysia Styles, Murray, Christianna Carr and Hyman— in for most of the first quarter. Alaina Rice came off the bench to replace Christianna, helping the Orange mostly in transition by quickly finding players after defensive stops. Murray and Chrislyn were able to carry the offensive load, scoring 19 of the Orange’s 22 first-quarter points.

Toward the end of the second quarter, Syracuse also started rotating in freshmen who hadn’t seen a lot of time yet. Nyah Wilson was able to score by pump-faking a shot from the left corner and driving inside, while Julianna Walker provided solid attempts from deep, connecting on one at the end of the first half.

In the second half, Styles started to make up for Walker’s absence in the paint on both ends, blocking a Colgate shot before finishing on the other end next to the basket. Styles finished with six points and 15 rebounds, and Rice also made an impact on the boards, recording five.

Najé Murray from deep

In Syracuse’s first six games, Murray has averaged 4.5 shots from beyond the arc. Murray said that she’s gotten to the point in her career where she’s meticulous about her shot selection, using her five years of college experience to her advantage.

“I’m only taking the good shot,” Murray said. “I know what’s a good shot, I know what’s the right shot, I know the timely shot.”

Against the Raiders, Murray took the Orange’s first shot, unable to hit from the left wing. But on her next two attempts, Murray was successful from the same spot — both connected off assists from Hyman where she was able to pull defenders off Murray.

In the second half, Murray started to play like Hyman, finding players open from deep instead of taking attempts of her own. While driving inside, Murray saw Christianna wide-open at the right wing, hitting her to give the Orange a 55-29 lead.

Paint presence

While Syracuse has been outsized against opponents throughout the entirety of the season, the Orange had the advantage over Colgate with their bigs being around the same size. Still, SU was outrebounded, finishing with 40 rebounds compared to 43 from the Raiders.

Syracuse was able to find success in the paint offensively, sending smaller players like Chrislyn and Hyman on numerous drives into the lane. With speed the Orange were able to get past the Raiders defense, finishing with 44 points in the paint by the end of the afternoon. Styles did the most inside, wrestling multiple defenders to get rebounds despite not being able to finish on most of those plays.

Published on November 28, 2021 at 3:59 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu