For Syracuse, the No. 1 question coming into this season was how the team would repl?ace the offensive production of graduated center Kayla Alexander — the program’s all-time leading scorer and a first-round WNBA draft pick.

What flew under the radar was the hole Alexander left defensively as the heart of the Orange’s 2-3 zone.

Lately, though, Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said he has been impressed with his team’s interior defense — which relies heavily on centers Shakeya Leary and Briana Day, as well as wings Taylor Ford and Brianna Butler.

On Thursday, when the Orange (12-4, 1-2 Atlantic Coast) travels to College Park, Md., to face Maryland (14-1, 2-0 ACC), the SU defense will be tested by two highly skilled post players — Terrapins forward Alyssa Thomas, the Preseason ACC Player of the Year, and 6-foot-4 center Malina Howard.

Because the Orange routinely uses lineups of three and four guards, the room for error on the interior is slim, and the centers are often responsible for covering the majority of the paint.

“Even if we’re not so much of an offensive threat,” Day said of the interior players, “we definitely can put stats up.”

On Sunday against Georgia Tech, the Orange had six blocks — two apiece from Leary and Day, and one each from Ford and Brittney Sykes. The Yellow Jackets managed only eight first-half points in the paint and six second-chance points.

SU’s late-game comeback was spearheaded by the offense of Butler and Sykes, but would never have been possible without the excellent post defense from Leary, Day and Ford. Around the rim, Leary and Ford consistently altered shot attempts from Yellow Jackets forwards Katarina Vuckovic and Nariah Taylor.

Against Georgia Tech, the freshman Day played 18 minutes and scored only two points, but added 10 rebounds. Like Leary, she too only committed one second-half foul.

Hillsman said that because of Day’s improvement, she can now play more minutes subbing in for Leary. Consequently, Leary has been fresher and more productive.

But the Orange also relies heavily on the help of weak-side defenders. Day was quick to say it is “very important” to get weak-side help.

“Because Kayla was such a big presence, our forwards are more involved in the 2-3 zone now,” Ford said. “A lot of times last year it was just Kayla was taking up a lot of space, now it’s the center and the forwards taking up more space.”

“They see what I can’t see,” Day said. “Especially with boxing out or just telling me where someone is.”

Ford also said the offenses Syracuse now faces in the ACC are a lot more physical than Big East teams, but still possess the well-documented ACC quickness.

While Syracuse ranks No. 35 in the country in scoring offense, the team also ranks No. 22 in the country in scoring margin, and averages 4.5 blocks a game — a testament to its stingy defense.

“We’ve kind of tightened our scheme up a little bit,” Hillsman said. “We’re shrinking the floor a little bit more and not giving them a lot of open areas to pass the ball.”

On Thursday night against Maryland, the Orange will look to continue its improved defensive play.

Said Hillsman: “We’ve got to do what we’ve been doing. Just keep the floor shrunk and make sure when (Thomas) catches it, that we’re there to dig.”

Published on January 16, 2014 at 1:57 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu