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Over its past three games, Syracuse was put in a wringer. It faced three straight quality opponents to open Atlantic Coast Conference play, though it managed to go 2-1 in those contests.

Yet, even in such a short span, the Orange went through it all. A potentially season-defining win over then-No. 13 Notre Dame was followed by a crushing, blowout loss to North Carolina. Then, SU escaped with a victory against Boston College despite a poor shooting effort (37.1%).

In its fourth conference bout against Wake Forest, though, Syracuse was given a prime chance at the one thing it hasn’t gotten in ACC play — a convincing win. And it got just that versus the Demon Deacons. SU utilized an early 19-2 run, a dominant third quarter and shot 54.1% from the field to seal a blowout over WF for its largest ACC win of the season thus far.

Here are some observations on Syracuse’s (13-2, 3-1 ACC) 77-56 victory over Wake Forest (4-12, 0-4 ACC):

Fair sets the tone

SU star point guard Dyaisha Fair got off to a hot start in the opening quarter against WF. She led the Orange with six points and went 2-for-2 from beyond the arc. In a quarter where the Demon Deacons struggled to shoot, Fair helped Syracuse to a 14-9 lead through the first 10 minutes, setting the tone for the remainder of the victory.

At the 6:26 mark, Fair cashed in on a second-chance look, burying a 3 from the left wing to put the Orange up 5-4. She earned the second-chance opportunity herself, hauling in an offensive board just before nailing a shot from long range. Nearly four minutes later, with the score locked at 7-7, Fair poked the ball away from WF’s Madisyn Jordan and drained a step-back 3 on the ensuing fast break — giving Syracuse a lead it never relinquished.

Fair’s dominant start helped spur another key performance from the point guard. She finished the win with 21 points (team-best), seven rebounds and two steals.

A Demon Deacons drought

With 5:55 left in the first quarter, WF’s Alexandria Scruggs hauled in an offensive board and kicked it out to Raegyn Conley, who drilled a 3 to give Wake Forest a 7-5 lead. It took the Demon Deacons over 11 minutes to make their next basket.

From then until the 4:29 mark of the second quarter, Syracuse outscored Wake Forest 19-2 while WF went 0-for-12 from the field during that stretch. SU didn’t do anything differently on defense to cause the Demon Deacons’ struggles, playing a traditional man-to-man set. WF just couldn’t break a lengthy cold spell from the field and on the other end, the Orange ran circles around the Demon Deacons.

The scoring drought caused Wake Forest the most stress early in the second quarter. Syracuse began the frame firing on all cylinders, nailing four of its first five looks from the field. SU’s offense was clicking from every spot on the floor, finding forward Alyssa Latham inside for a couple of buckets and draining its mid-range attempts with consistency.

Though the Demon Deacons couldn’t get anything going, plagued by ill-advised shot attempts and careless mistakes. Fair, Alaina Rice and Kennedi Perkins locked down WF’s guards along the perimeter, preventing them from firing open 3s or sending passes inside for easy looks. Turnovers also hurt Wake Forest, finishing the game with 14.

Just past the 5:00 mark of the second quarter, an errant feed from Elise Williams to Scruggs was intercepted by Latham. Fair finished with a pull-up jumper on the ensuing fast break, which gave the Orange a 24-9 lead at that point, the peak of their run during the Demon Deacons’ drought.

Wood working down low

Syracuse forward Kyra Wood has been a reliable starter this season for head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. And against Wake Forest, she showed why, tallying eight points and seven rebounds. But four of those boards were on the offensive glass as Wood was the catalyst behind a flurry of second-chance points for the Orange.

Wood bullied WF’s Scruggs and Williams down low all day long. She commenced Thursday’s contest with a steal on Williams to end Wake Forest’s opening possession. Then, still less than a minute into the game, Wood hauled in an offensive rebound after a miss from Latham, converting the ensuing put-back try for Syracuse’s first basket of the day.

The forward got things going for SU in the second half as well, knocking down an open close-range jumper on its opening trip down the floor. On Syracuse’s following offensive possession, Rice couldn’t hit a mid-range shot but Wood was uncovered below the basket to pull in the rebound. Her second-chance lay-in fell through, giving the Orange a 34-21 lead.

She garnered her fifth and sixth points of the third quarter with 6:33 left, and it was through another second-chance opportunity. Fair, blazing upcourt after a steal, missed a pull-up mid-range try, yet Wood boxed out Scruggs on the left block to secure the miss and lay it right back in, giving SU a 40-26 advantage at the time.

Lights out third quarter

Searching for that convincing win, the Orange sealed the deal in the third quarter. Even after SU’s dominant 19-2 stretch during the opening two quarters, Wake Forest only trailed by nine at the break. But Syracuse quickly silenced the Demon Deacons, as it shot 12-for-18 in the third quarter for a total of 25 points.

During the frame, the Orange did most of their damage inside, going 11-for-15 from inside the arc and scoring 10 points in the paint. Wood’s second-chance points helped Syracuse initially grow its lead, then the advantage ballooned after SU found success feeding Latham down low and getting Fair out in the fast break. Latham, Wood and Fair all dropped six points apiece in the third quarter.

WF tried to claw back during the frame, getting within 10 after falling behind by as much as 16. Yet, Syracuse had an answer at every turn. Wake Forest embarked on a mini 5-0 run midway through the quarter to cut the deficit to 42-32. In response, though, SU freshman Sophie Burrows buried a 3-pointer and sparked the Orange to outscore the Demon Deacons 13-7 over the remainder of the quarter.

Syracuse entered the fourth quarter up 55-39 and from there, Wake Forest didn’t make any progress cutting into SU’s large advantage.

Published on January 11, 2024 at 1:48 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews