A fast start propelled SU back to .500
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – As Kyra Wood jostled with Bella Toomey for positioning on the right block, Dominique Camp got tired of waiting. Four seconds after receiving the ball, she came out of her triple-threat position, she had found herself enough space to launch a three-pointer over the head of her slowly retreating defender.
When it went through the net, the Syracuse Orange took a 10-0 lead just three minutes into the game, and FDU head coach Stephanie Gaitley had seen enough.
The early paint dominance opened up the floor for a few three-pointers that buoyed the lead from there, and SU handed FDU its first loss of the season, 77-58, Sunday inside the JMA Wireless Dome, breaking a two-game skid in the process.
Just as it did in earlier games, the Orange established the post threats of Izabel Varejao and Kyra Wood on the opening possessions. Varejao spun to her right-hand hook shot on the first trip down the floor, and converted to open the score.
One possession later, Wood grabbed an offensive rebound over two Knights off of Varejao’s miss, created by a Georgia Woolley dribble drive, and deposited the bucket.
Woolley went to the basket again the next time down the floor, and drew a foul, draining one of two free throws.
Later in the first quarter, Sophie Burrows, joined the party. She made two three-pointers from the same spot in the right corner, the second one coming off a nice post feed from Varejao on the opposite block.
FDU was completely walled out of the paint in the first ten minutes, scoring just one basket inside the arc. However, the Knights made some tough shots, including two Lilly Parke threes to play the last 7 minutes of the frame with a one-point advantage, trailing 25-16 after the first.
Another factor that allowed FDU to hang around early was the Orange’s poor free throw shooting. Saniaa Wilson, who made her season debut on Wednesday against Maryland, missed all three of her attempts in the first quarter, including failing to convert an and-one after scoring on a nice dish from Camp.
Despite how well FDU shot the ball in the first quarter, Syracuse went to zone in the middle of the second quarter, and the Knights continued to launch threes. The Orange gave up their glass dominance, but once FDU’s threes stopped falling consistently, they were forced into some difficult possessions, leading to some turnovers.
Last season, the Orange played zone defense on 47.3% of their possessions, holding opponents to .75 points per possession. Syracuse hadn’t had the chance to go zone quite as much in the first three games of the season, playing just 27.5% of its possessions in a zone. But with a semi-comfortable first-half lead, Felisha Legette-Jack decided to put it in action.
“They shot us out of our player-to-player,” Jack said. “They just kind of waited until we got in, and they kicked the ball out and extra pass into an open three, and we couldn’t adjust, so we had to change the defense.”
Syracuse took a ten-point lead into halftime. It gave up a few offensive rebounds and second-chance points to Teneisia Brown at the end of the half, but those four were the only points in the paint for the Knights all half.
The zone was a key feature in the second half, when the Orange began to open up their lead. Keira Scott, who didn’t play the entire first half, checked in and was a force at the lower level of the zone. She came from the block to the opposite elbow to block a shot, and established herself on the offensive end as well, scoring easily a few times in the quarter. She finished the game with 8 points in 11 minutes.
Fellow freshman Shy Hawkins also didn’t play at all in the first half, but entered a few minutes after Scott in the third. In the final minute of the quarter, she extended the Orange lead to 24 with an elbow jumper after getting her defender off balance with a misdirection dribble.
FDU struggled once again from deep in the fourth quarter, while Syracuse continued to pound the rock inside. The Orange finished the game with 40 points in the paint to the Knights’ six.
“The one (zone) defense (we went with) seemed to go with worked,” Jack said. “And so we decided to stay with that. It kind of nullified their penetrate and pitch out, they had to come up with the floaters, and a couple of those went. But now it’s two versus two, and I think that our two is going to be more dominant than theirs.”
Camp only took two field goals, but controlled the game with her passing, leading SU with eight assists. Three Orange players finished in double figures, Wood with 12, Varejao with 10, and Burrows with 11.
Ava Renninger was the only Knight who had success in the second half, scoring 16 of her 18 in the final 20, with every other player combining for just 12.
Syracuse’s five-game season-opening homestand concludes on Wednesday when UAlbany comes to the Dome.