With the final seconds of the first half against Georgia Tech peeling away, Briana Day bodied GT’s Roddreka Rogers to the ground in an effort to create shooting space.

From the edge of the key, Day tossed up a right-handed layup that clanked off the backboard. She weaved through three Yellow Jackets to corral the rebound and marched forward two steps to put in the shot from under the basket.

The play was a microcosm of the season. Day’s errant shot contributed to Syracuse’s Atlantic Coast Conference-worst mark in missed shots. Her rebound added to SU’s conference-best mark in offensive boards.

“It’s good that we get a lot of rebounds, but we let up a lot too,” Day said. “It doesn’t really equal out in my eyes. If we’re getting the most, we shouldn’t be allowing that many either.”

Although it didn’t come back to haunt Day and the Orange in that moment, the ill effects of Syracuse’s high-octane style of play are evident. By taking far more shots than opponents — 172 more than any other ACC team — SU inevitably will miss the most. More missed shots means more rebounding opportunities, and the Orange has failed to take control of that aspect of its game.

It hasn’t outrebounded its opponents by more than one in the last five games. Syracuse’s (18-6, 8-3 ACC) game against Virginia (13-11, 3-7), the third-worst rebounding team in the conference, offers SU a chance to buck its recent trend when it hits the road for Thursday’s game at 7 p.m.

Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman often leans on a mantra representative of his team’s shooting and rebounding tendencies, which, despite a four-game win streak, may be perceived as woes.

“It’s real simple. The more you go the more you get,” Hillsman said. “That’s all we talk about. Every possession get a shot.

“If you don’t turn the ball over and we can get shots, then we have a chance to get a lot more rebounds.”

 

 

Syracuse has hung onto every one of its head coach’s words. Hillsman sets out for his team to retrieve 30 percent of its missed shots, a mark the Orange has surpassed in its last 10 games.

But defensive boards have emerged as an Achilles heel, with Day saying two weeks ago after a loss to Louisville that she “(doesn’t) understand what’s going on” in regard to SU’s and her own defensive rebounding troubles.

She’s responded with 17 defensive boards in her last four games, but Syracuse has yet to outrebound an opponent defensively since dismantling Texas Rio Grande Valley, 91-32, on Jan. 1.

“When it comes to defense you just have to get in a position to rebound. You have to be in front of your opponent,” Day said. “… That’s where a lot of people get their rebounds on us, when we try to tip it and we don’t get a full hand on it.”

Syracuse has been saved by scoring often on fast breaks, situations that don’t usually lend themselves to missed shots. But otherwise, the Orange hasn’t fully grasped how to maximize the over-aggressive blueprint laid out by Hillsman.

Rebounding woes aren’t going to stop SU from shooting, but its issues are growing more difficult to overlook.

“You can’t think about (rebounding) too much,” junior center Bria Day said. “If you try to focus on one thing so much, it ends up probably not happening.”

Published on February 10, 2016 at 11:15 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman