The play that provided a paradigm shift of the crowd happened when the game was already decided. As the seconds dwindled down in Syracuse’s (19-5, 7-4 Atlantic Coast) 77-57 win over Wake Forest (10-15, 1-11) in the Carrier Dome, the Syracuse bench and spectators silenced as SU’s longest-tenured senior set in a shooting form at the right elbow of the free throw line. She had electrified the crowd just a play earlier with a dish to Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi on the right baseline for a short jumper. But this time, she got free space of her own.

So, as the arena, her teammates and coaches beckoned, Brandi Fowler rose up.

“And she bricks it,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. He tilted his head down and grinned. She should have made that, he joked.

In a game where the Orange’s continued shooting struggles once again materialized, their starters got off to slow starts and regular contributors disappeared from the score sheet. Defensive rotations, timely shooting and the occasional uplift of a contribution from a four-year walk on prevented No. 16 Syracuse from a tumble towards futility — a compounding of weeks of struggles that the Orange have persisted as its biggest test of the season against No. 6 Notre Dame nears. The SU bench scored 28 points to Wake Forest’s 10 and made an impact rebounding, defending and moving the ball.

“I think that was the biggest thing for us tonight,” Hillsman said, “we were just trying to keep fresh legs in the game.”

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Well before SU took the court Sunday, Hillsman experimented with a multitude of lineups. Beyond the usual starting five that’s taken the court all but once this season, injuries that have hampered forwards Miranda Drummond and Kadiatou Sissoko forced Hillsman to dig deeper into his bench unit.

Prior to the season, players and coaches praised the versatility the Orange would have with the depth on its roster. SU returned all but one player from last year’s rotation, and at all levels — inside and outside — the Orange added new contributors that would likely give it options at any point of the game. As injuries continued to plague Syracuse, those replacements have come in the form of Isis Young and Raven Fox, who expected high usage at times a season ago.

Against Wake Forest, Young played an extended time in the first half as heavy-usage players struggled to find a groove. Gabrielle Cooper shot 1-of-8 from the field and missed all six of her attempts from beyond the arc. Young checked in and hit two quick threes, including a shot that bounced off every part of the rim and the top of the backboard. She checked in and forced a deflection and turnover on the baseline adjacent to the SU bench.

“It’s always good to have depth in your team and I think they did good coming in,” Mangakahia said. “Especially on defense.”

With the bench unit in the game, Syracuse moved the ball with ease, stuck with all its defensive assignments and started to shift the momentum. Though SU’s poor shooting kept Wake Forest in the game, a quick dish to the inside or outside allowed the Orange to maintain control of a game it never trailed — nor did it come close for a majority of the game.

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Kiara Lewis and freshman Emily Engstler led the unit. Lewis slashed through defenders and hit outside shots. Though she didn’t contribute much offensively, Engstler’s four blocks anchored a shaky interior defensive unit. On one play, Engstler blocked a jumper at the top of the key and Cooper picked up the deflection as Engstler broke up court. The pass, which was too long for Engstler, slipped out of the hands of the freshman and she slowed her sprint to a jog as the ball tumbled out of bounds. She looked off to her side and sneered, but a few plays later, on a defensive rotation, she got her hand on another jump shot. No room for error this time: she simply pounded the shot out of bounds.

“Blocks are random. It’s really in the moment kind of thing,” Engstler said. “Just doing whatever I can to help get stops on defense.”

After the bench unit made its impact, SU went on a 9-2 run and didn’t look back. But the onslaught wouldn’t end until Fowler got her shot. Mangakahia tried everything: she handed the ball off to her, she cleared out the defense, she jumped to plead her to attack the basket. “Let’s go!” she yelled. So, Fowler followed.

The senior pump faked and took a dribble off the right elbow. She jumped, turned and fired a pass inside to Djaldi-Tabdi. Just a short jumper stood in the way of Fowler’s first addition to the stat sheet this year. And Djaldi-Tabdi delivered.

Sunday’s game reassured many of the concerns the Orange have brought up all season long. The shooting hurt. The defense struggled. The rebounding suffered. But when the game came to a close, Fowler stole all of that attention, and SU players left the court with a smile.

“It’s always good just to have those players that work just as hard as you, and do everything that you do, get that opportunity,” Mangakahia said.

Though at drastically different moments of their Syracuse careers, both Engstler and Drummond’s eyes glossed beside her.

Said Drummond: “It’s great to see her out there everyday.”

Published on February 17, 2019 at 6:07 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary