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In Syracuse’s season-opening victory against Niagara, it looked lethargic for most of the contest, despite pulling away in the fourth quarter.
The Purple Eagles ranked at the bottom of Division I in shooting last year, but they scored 84 points and cut SU’s lead to eight with nine minutes left, largely due to its 30 turnovers. Though Syracuse did come away victorious, this presented some doubt heading into its matchup with Saint Joseph’s.
Throughout its matchup with the Hawks, the Orange struggled. At the end of the first half, SU only trailed Saint Joseph’s 39-36, powered by 20 first-half points from Talya Brugler. However, the Hawks came out firing in the second half, putting the game out of reach, and an end to Syracuse’s 27-game home nonconference win streak.
Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) was dismantled by Saint Joseph’s (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic 10) 84-70 Sunday. The Hawks outscored SU 45-34 across the final two quarters while the Orange failed to stop Brugler and Mackenzie Smith. The duo totaled 29 and 25 points, respectively. The Hawks also finished 14-for-26 from 3, a large factor in SU’s blowout loss.
To start, the Orange quickly got out to a 4-0 lead. First, Izabel Varejão made a mid range jumper in the paint. Then, after Saint Joseph’s turned the ball over, Varejão dished the ball to Georgia Woolley for a contested layup.
On the heels of SU’s run, Saint Joseph’s went on one of its own. Following blocks by Emma Boslet and Smith, Brugler sunk a 3 from the left side of the court, capping off the Hawks’ 7-2 run.
However, Syracuse bounced back immediately, as Sophie Burrows hit back-to-back triples of her own off of steals by Angelica Velez. After a timeout, the Orange padded their lead. Kyra Wood kissed two layups off the glass, and Kiera Scott sank a mid-range floater to make it 18-9 with one minute to play in the first quarter.
In the last minute of the first quarter, both teams traded buckets. First, Smith hit a long triple for the Hawks. Next, Varejão missed a layup, but got her own rebound and made the second attempt. Smith ended the quarter with a floater, as she paced the Hawks with seven points at the break.
But the second quarter was dominated by Brugler. After SU turned the ball over three times, Saint Joseph’s embarked on an 8-0 run, with Brugler scoring all of the points.
First, the senior drilled a triple after an offensive board by Ziegler. Then, following a missed 3 from Woolley, Brugler drove to the basket and added two more. SU head coach Felicia Legette-Jack called a timeout after Brugler made her second 3-pointer in as many minutes, tying the score 22-22.
It took SU until the halfway point of the second quarter to get its first points of the frame, with Hawkins converting off an inbounds pass from Velez. However, Syracuse easily surrendered the lead a minute later. Ziegler and Brugler made consecutive 3s, and Brugler added two more field goals, pushing the Hawks’ lead to four.
Woolley notched six points toward the end of the first half, but Saint Joseph’s quickly responded, with Gabby Casey and Smith this time doing the heavy lifting. The Hawks led 39-36 at the end of the first half, with Brugler already at 20 points, 15 of which came in the second quarter.
SU needed a spark to start the second half, but didn’t get it. After Varejão hit a wide-open 3, Smith followed suit. Then, the Hawks turned to a familiar look, setting up Brugler for her fifth triple of the day. Smith drilled another 3 a minute later, capping an 11-1 Hawks run before the mid-quarter timeout.
The Orange continued to struggle, however. Boslet was left wide open, and she sunk her first 3 of the contest. Then, Velez passed the ball right to Ziegler on an in-bounds, leading to a three-point play for Aleah Snead. To end the penultimate frame, Casey and Burrows traded 3s, as SU’s deficit ballooned to 65-51 after the Hawks outscored them 26-13 in the third-quarter.
Sloppy play from the Hawks gave the Orange the chance to cut into the lead, but they couldn’t convert. After Olivia Schmitt and Boslet made layups, Burrows hit her fourth 3 of the contest.
But the momentum was short-lived. After a Schmitt steal, Keira Scott immediately chucked up a triple, but missed long. Saint Joseph’s cashed in off of SU’s mistakes. Smith again got involved, as she made another long 3 to boost the Hawks to a 72-56 advantage. Brugler tacked on a layup, her 27th points of the game.
After struggling for most of the half, the Orange finally made up some ground. Wood split two free throw attempts before Casey drove to the basket, hitting an easy layup. Hawkins immediately got the points back for SU, and on the ensuing possession, Woolley drained her first 3 of the game.
Saint Joseph’s responded immediately, with Smith knocking down another triple. Woolley got the points back with a three-point play, but the damage was done. The Orange trailed by 16 with 1:30 to play.
Saint Joseph’s high-flying duo of Brugler and Smith proved to be too much to handle, ending the Orange’s five-year run where they didn’t lose a nonconference game in the JMA Wireless Dome.
The post Syracuse falls to Saint Joseph’s 84-70, suffers 1st loss of the season appeared first on The Daily Orange.