‘Cuse has some early questions after their first loss of the season
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The one thing you can’t accuse Felisha Legette-Jack of is being afraid to challenge her team early in the season.
“This was calculated,” she said. “We are trying to validate ourselves as a premiere team. In order to do that, you got to play somebody, and you got to beat somebody.”
On Tuesday, the Syracuse Orange, with a starting point guard that hadn’t played in a year and a half, comfortably defeated a full-court pressing Niagara team that finished minutes away from making the NCAA Tournament last season. Sunday afternoon was an even stiffer test, with a Saint Joseph’s team that won 28 games a year ago- and was picked to finish second in the A-10 – coming to the Dome.
And the Hawks looked the part. Led by a 29-point effort from star senior Talya Brugler, St. Joe’s defeated Syracuse 84-70. SJU canned 14 three-pointers at a 54% rate, extending its lead as high as 21.
It marks Syracuse’s first non-conference loss inside the Dome since No. 1 Oregon- with Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally – came to town in November of 2019. Last season, the Orange didn’t lose at home until late January.
“This is our court, we don’t lose at home,” Georgia Woolley said. “So we’re going to take real pride in that. We’re going to watch film, we’re going to come back, and that’s not the type of basketball that we’re going to see from us again.”
Syracuse opened up the game by attacking inside. None of the Hawks starters are taller than 6 foot 2, so Izabel Varejao was able to establish great positioning down low on the second possession of the game. Dominique Camp fed her the ball, and the senior spun toward the middle of the paint, and dropped in a layup.
In the middle of the quarter, back-to-back SJU turnovers led to back-to-back threes for Sophie Burrows on the right wing. Syracuse attempted just three triples in the initial frame, but the two from Burrows forced veteran Hawk coach Cindy Griffin to call timeout with the score at 12-7.
Then, the inside onslaught continued. The Orange finished the first quarter with an eight-point lead, and a 16-4 advantage on points in the paint. Driving lanes were open, and Syracuse also added five offensive rebounds.
Saint Joseph’s was simply not physical enough on that end, but the energy completely flipped in the second quarter when Brugler got going.
The two-time Atlantic 10 all-conference honoree flapped her wings like the mascot she represents, scoring eight points in a row to erase the deficit and force Jack into a timeout. She scored 15 points on six field goal attempts in the second quarter, and the Orange didn’t have as easy of a time entering the paint with Wood in foul trouble.
Angelica Velez had a nice half for Syracuse, playing 13 minutes off the bench at point guard. She dished out five assists with only one turnover, and had more success on dribble drives than Camp. However, Syracuse still trailed by three going into the break.
While Camp opened the second half with a bucket, then Mackenzie Smith started to heat up for Saint Joseph’s, and scored eight straight for her team, and later drilled a three to put the Hawks ahead by 12 nearly halfway through the frame.
“We never respected (Smith) to come in there and duck in,” Jack said. “She just came in there and ducked in the lane and got easy buckets in the paint. Then she got her confidence. When you see that ball go in the hole, it starts to become an ocean.”
In the second half, 50-50 balls started going almost exclusively to the visitors, as St. Joe’s forced seven third-quarter turnovers and didn’t miss any of its five threes in the penultimate ten minutes.
Syracuse’s advantage in the paint flipped, as the team couldn’t convert its chances.
“We got what we wanted, easy, in the lane,” Jack said. “But Iza (Varejao) became too much of a thinker. She kept doing four different moves and she had them on the first move, and she didn’t trust her help. Her help was ‘throw it up to the glass and let Kyra go get it if you miss it,’ and by the time she made the decision to make a pass, she passed it out and now the clock is against us.”
Jack inserted freshman Olivia Schmitt into the game for the first time late in the third quarter, hoping she could spark a change in momentum. She did nab a steal and an assist, but the Hawks continued to control the flow of the game and made shot after shot.
The start of the fourth quarter was the same story, as every time Syracuse began to tilt the energy back with a basket or a stop, Saint Joseph’s calmly answered back, and did exactly what it needed to do.
“They were kicking the ball down the floor pretty quickly, and we weren’t getting back,” Burrows said. “We weren’t communicating, that was the main aspect. We just need to communicate better and get better on defense.
Woolley scored ten points in the fourth quarter, including a triple, but it was too little, too late.
Smith and Brugler combined for 54 points on the day, while the Orange turned it over 13 times in the second half alone.
The Aussies, Woolley and Burrows, were the only Syracuse players in double figures, scoring 19 and 14 respectively.
The early-season gauntlet doesn’t stop yet though, with No. 18 Maryland returning last year’s thriller with a visit to the Dome on Wednesday.