Not the way the Orange want to head into their Florida trip
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Over the first four games of the season, the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team played an average of about 73 possessions.
On Wednesday night against UAlbany, the Great Danes controlled the pace of the game, holding Syracuse to just 62 possessions en route to a 73-70 upset win inside the Dome.
As the clock ticked down, and Syracuse needed a basket, star guard George Woolley took it upon herself to get the Orange the lead. She drove to the rim and threw up a shot, but not before running into a UAlbany defender, and getting called for a charge as the ball found its way into the basket.
With 11.5 seconds left, the Great Danes called timeout with a chance to win it, and they didn’t miss that opportunity, even after a scramble drill.
“She fumbled it,” Felisha Legette-Jack said. “And then the double team was able to come, and therefore that left their young lady wide open and we didn’t fly around.”
Kaci Donovan drove the lane and kicked the ball out to a wide-open Lilly Phillips, who found nothing by nylon to give UAlbany the edge.
Syracuse called timeout immediately after, but couldn’t get a good look. Sophie Burrows’ final heave was off-balance and never even came close. The Great Danes started celebrating before the ball even finished coming down.
The second half featured 15 lead changes, with the final one being Phillips’ corner three with 3.5 seconds left.
Early on, it was clear that this game would be played at UAlbany’s speed. Each team had long, deliberate possessions that drained the shot clock within the first minute. The sides were knotted at two apiece for over two minutes, and went nearly three minutes without a field goal on either basket in the first quarter before the Syracuse Australians got going.
Burrows canned a jumper, and then Woolley scooped in a circus shot of an and-1 to send the game to the first media timeout. She made the free throw after the break to give the Orange a 9-3 lead.
Woolley and Burrows each added a triple as Syracuse opened up a 21-7 lead in the first quarter, but were still playing at UAlbany’s pace.
In the second quarter, the Great Danes settled in on both sides of the floor. Just like the Saint Joseph’s game, Syracuse got out to a nice first quarter lead, only to see it evaporate quickly.
“Having the lead doesn’t mean we won the game,” starting center Izabel Varejao said. “And I feel like that has been a thing for us lately. First quarter we’re up 10 or something, and then second quarter goes down. Like whoever comes in, whoever is on the floor has to keep this in mind that the game is not won.”
Entering halftime, the Orange’s double digit lead shrank to just a single point, and the Great Danes took the lead on the first possession of the second half.
Throughout the second quarter, the teams traded baskets, trading the lead with it, until the threes started to fall.
UAlbany went four-for-four on threes in the third quarter, running an offense with a lot of cutting and misdirection operated out from the foul line. Donovan drained a three after two SU players followed the player she screened for, and then Phillips made one, and Donovan another, giving the Great Danes a 48-40 lead.
“We certainly didn’t have the best defensive plan against them,” Legette-Jack said. “And this one is on me, and we have to get better as a coaching staff.”
Syracuse closed the quarter with a little bit of 1-2-2 press, and it made an impact, making it more difficult for UAlbany to get into their actions, as the Orange brought the deficit from eight to two.
While SU was able to take the lead a bunch in the fourth, it couldn’t stop the one-on-one game from the Great Danes, a departure from how well UAlbany was cutting in the third.
“I thought our bigs weren’t very quick today,” Legette-Jack said. “I don’t know where we were. It wasn’t just one person, it was like three or four that just really wasn’t moving with the ball, not stunting, not getting to their player, not making an imposing position in the paint.”
The Orange went away from starting point guard Dominique Camp in the fourth quarter, turning to freshman Olivia Schmitt, who provided a spark, but also gifted a key freshman mistake, throwing the ball in the air like a fourth down punt to be fielded by UAlbany after a great defensive stand in a tied game with 30 seconds left.
Fortunately for the Orange in this scenario, Kayla Cooper committed an offensive foul to give them a chance, and Schmitt can’t be ultimately blamed for the loss.
Woolley led all scorers with 23, but only scored three in the fourth quarter, as Legette-Jack is still working on finding her best rotations for the late game.
“We’re learning who can go in certain times of the game,” she said. “Substitution thing still eludes us, and we’re still trying to figure out who to sub, when to sub, why to sub, and all that fun stuff.”
Syracuse’s five-game season-opening homestand ended with a 2-3 record, and the season continues in the Emerald Coast Classic against Mizzou on Monday.