The first 38 seconds foreshadowed Syracuse’s offensive struggles. One possession. Four missed shots. All from within six feet.

Chance after chance was squandered by a lack of execution around the rim.

‘The putbacks aren’t really working,’ SU forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas said.

Added guard Elashier Hall, ‘Layups are definitely something we need to work on.’

But nothing else really worked, either.

In a game in which the Orange (15-4, 3-3 Big East) offense missed 41 shots, it was the defense that carried Syracuse to a 69-60 win over Pittsburgh Wednesday in front of 1,076 inside the Carrier Dome. An inability to put the ball in the basket on one end of the floor was erased by the aggressive 2-3 zone. Pittsburgh connected on just 37.5 percent of its shots and finished the game with more turnovers than assists.

Syracuse began the game hitting only one of its first 11 shots and 3-of-19 field goals overall. A seven-point deficit followed.

But the defense never allowed the Panthers to distance themselves. Pitt’s two best 3-point shooters — Shayla Scott and Taneisha Harrison — were just 1-of-8 combined in the first half. An active 2-3 zone prevented them from getting open looks.

‘We just wanted to make sure that they didn’t make a ton of 3s on us,’ SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘And I thought that, in this game, we did a good job of getting out on their shooters.’

But it was in the second half that Syracuse’s defense saved the game.

A pair of free throws by Orange center Shakeya Leary gave the team a 52-44 advantage with 13:47 to play. More than four minutes of scoreless basketball followed for both teams.

Syracuse missed six consecutive attempts, including two missed layups by sophomore center Kayla Alexander.

It was in this stretch, Hillsman said, that the defense made the biggest difference. If the offense couldn’t put points on the board, the zone would have to keep the Panthers scoreless. And it did.

‘There was a stretch where nobody scored,’ Hillsman said. ‘We were up eight, and I remember that moment. I just said, ‘Hey, if nobody scores the rest of the game, we’re in good shape.”

In all, the Panthers’ scoreless drought lasted more than five minutes. There was even an 11-minute segment during which Pittsburgh managed only six total points.

‘We were all over the place on defense,’ Tyson-Thomas said. ‘Hands active. Feet moving. And we were working hard.’

So perhaps it was fitting that as the Panthers attempted to mount a late-game comeback, the Orange defense played spoiler.

With its once 13-point lead down to just six with 2:22 to play, SU dug in. Syracuse forced back-to-back missed shots and then a turnover on Pittsburgh’s next three possessions to put the game out of reach.

And with a minute and change remaining, Alexander put a stamp on the victory with an emphatic block of Pittsburgh center Leeza Burdgess that drew a chorus of cheers from the SU bench.

‘We really did a good job, for the first time this year, of not being in a position where we had to weather the storm,’ Hillsman said. ‘Our defense just did a good job keeping it even.’

The zone, which forced 18 turnovers, even drew the attention of Panthers head coach Agnus Berenato. It was aggressive and dominant without fouling, as the Orange committed just 11 total fouls to Pitt’s 24.

‘I think they have a really nice 2-3 zone,’ she said. ‘All the credit to Syracuse.’

And for the Orange, being able to rely on that zone to get stops has become a luxury. For a team that ranks 65th in the country in field-goal percentage, it needs to have another way to win.

Pittsburgh, despite the loss, finished with more made field goals (24) than the Orange (22). Nearly 29 percent of SU’s points came from the free-throw line, where it shot 20-of-29.

Hillsman admitted this was a game in which the defense bailed out the offense, and Hall and Tyson-Thomas agreed. Two players who combined to hit just 6-of-17 shots recognized that without the defense, Syracuse probably wouldn’t have won.

‘When we’re not scoring, that’s what you have to rely on: the defense,’ Tyson-Thomas said. ‘You’ve got to have something else to go to.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on January 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13