Alexis Peterson squared to the basket on the left wing and launched a shot from behind arc that clanked sideways off the rim. Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman, who was squatting on the sideline, turned his head away, closed his eyes and grimaced as if he were in pain.

Syracuse’s 3-point shooting in the first half was painful at a 1-for-11 clip and never got much better. The Orange finished just 3-for-18 beyond the arc — well below its averages of nine 3s made and 31 attempted coming into the contest.

Stony Brook (4-4) limited No. 20 Syracuse’s (5-2) 3-point opportunities with high-pressure defense around the arc in the Orange’s 64-49 win in the Carrier Dome on Sunday.

“No there really wasn’t,” Hillsman said of whether there was less emphasis on the 3s compared to prior games. “I think they did a really good job of taking things away from us.”

Hillsman had expected Stony Brook to play in a sagging man-to-man defense, giving Syracuse space to hoist 3-pointers off of screens and handoff plays where a player tosses the ball to another one crossing behind her at the 3-point line.

Instead, the Seawolves played a tight man defense and pressured SU on the 3-point line.

“They did exactly what I asked them to do, turn the corner, be aggressive and play at the rim,” Hillsman said of his players.

Syracuse is usually able to generate 3s in transition whether by pushing the ball down the court or forcing turnovers with its full-court press.

The press wasn’t creating turnovers, however. And each time Brianna Butler, Syracuse’s leading 3-point shooter, threw her hand up calling for the ball as she ran to the corner, the pass never came. She was seldom open.

Though Butler previously averaged 12.8 3s attempted and 3.7 made per game, she came up empty in just five 3-point attempts. One just barely scraped the bottom of the rim, avoiding an air ball.

Her best result on a 3 attempt didn’t even come close to making it into the basket. She took a moving jumper, but was hit on the arm and managed two points in made foul shots out of the play.

“At the end of the day,” guard Brittney Sykes said, “we just want to put the ball in the basket.”

Hillsman has been able to consistently strut up and down the Syracuse sideline in other games this season, hoisting three fingers in the air. But on Sunday, the biggest celebration came when freshman guard Savannah Crocetti played her first minutes for Syracuse and sunk a 3-point attempt with 47 seconds left.

Cornelia Fondren jumped off the bench waving her Gatorade towel around. Taylor Ford pretended to fire arrows into the sky. But it was just the third 3 that the Orange hit all game.

In the first half, Syracuse died by the 3, leading to a 25-23 deficit at the break. When the Orange surged in the third quarter it was because of the team’s play in the paint, not from beyond the arc.

“It didn’t really make sense to settle for 3s when we can get a higher percentage shot,” Peterson said.

Published on December 6, 2015 at 6:58 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus