Quentin Hillsman lowered to a squat and roared. The day prior, the 13-year head coach maintained Syracuse can’t look past a matchup with the lower-seeded Rams. In fact, he’s never had that mindset that this one will be easy. But for many years it was a matter of necessity.

“We were never good enough,” Hillsman said on Friday. He grinned. He knows this team is different. The Orange have the highest NCAA Tournament seed in their history. The last time his team hosted a first and second round tournament game, it made it all the way to the National Championship game.

But as Fordham developed a first-quarter lead, Hillsman folded his arms and kept the same expression he had in every other game this season, big or small. Then in the second quarter, Syracuse had three steals, a 3-pointer and three more baskets that changed the game and forced a Fordham timeout. Hillsman left his squat, high-fived SU players as they exited the floor and waltzed out to center court.

“God damnit,” he yelled and turned back towards the bench. The Orange didn’t look ahead, and then it never looked back.

No. 3 Syracuse (25-8, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) dominated No. 14 Fordham (25-9, 13-3 Atlantic 10), 70-49, in the first round of the NCAA tournament. In a game that for a long period was a defensive battle with the country’s seventh-ranked defense, SU beat FU with its best attribute and morphed into the Syracuse team some of its biggest performances proved it could be. Fordham expected a strong Syracuse team, and that’s what it got.

“A lot of teams sometime take their seed for granted and come out here and don’t do as well,” Syracuse point guard Tiana Mangakahia said. “We just had to focus and not let an upset happen.”

In the early part of the game, the Rams defense threatened. On her first attempt at the rim, Amaya Finklea-Guity flung an open layup attempt off the side rim. The Orange rushed shots, and though some fell, it was left with a sloppy feel in the first frame. Fordham outworked the Orange and with one final possession in the first quarter, Syracuse trailed by three points.

Mangakahia danced at the top of the key, crossed over and found free space at the free-throw line before the buzzer sounded. But, still, the Orange left the first quarter trailing.

The Mangakahia basket provided the first points of an 11-point run that gave Syracuse a firm hold of the lead. Syracuse, who turned the ball over on inbound baskets and misfired on open shots earlier, pushed up its press, forced turnovers and blocked shots. Multiple crosscourt passes were picked off, Fordham frequently spent seven or eight seconds in the backcourt and Syracuse stole the ball four times in the first 2:16 of the second quarter.

“I don’t think we were just like, ‘Oh my god their bigs.’” Fordham guard Bre Cavanaugh said. “We knew they were going to be big. We knew they were going to be strong, fast, physical, all that.”

On the other end, it converted on its transition opportunities and buried long-distance 3-pointers. Gabrielle Cooper caught the ball five feet beyond the 3-point line on the left elbow and fired a shot after a brief pause. The ball followed the same course as many other long SU shots had taken, and rattled through the rim. Gabrielle Cooper pursed her lips and blew on each hand.

Coming into the game, Fordham’s strategy had been to force Syracuse to “do something different,” Fordham head coach Stephanie Gaitley said. But in its best moments, Syracuse relied on many of the same things that its succeeded with all year long.

The Orange have relied on a margin-based system that has led mixed results for the past four years. The game against the Rams showed both sides: the blip and the burst. FU closed out well, forcing Syracuse to shoot fewer 3-pointers, but Syracuse isn’t strictly a 3-point shooting team, Hillsman reiterated. To find openings, it simply went inside and to the high post. Fordham challenged again with its defense in the third quarter, but a fourth-quarter run once again reestablished the status quo.

“Runs like that are what we need,” Syracuse guard Gabrielle Cooper said. “We just had to shake off the rust and really lock into what we knew they were doing and play within ourselves.”

Syracuse hit its 3-pointers again, and they came in bunches. It did everything it’s done all season long, doing everything it had to against a team it’s supposed to beat. In the fourth quarter, Miranda Drummond found herself once again behind the line.

“Shot,” Drummond yelled and drained a 3-pointer. By that point, Syracuse was just building its lead. She offered a light high-five and Syracuse ran in transition to play defense. Hillsman hollered and fumed following a Strautmane foul a few plays later. This wasn’t a game Syracuse overlooked. It took them almost the full four quarters, but Syracuse entered the players at the end of its bench in full control. The season was never supposed to end Saturday. Not before SU met its match.

“We’re pleased to be advancing. That’s the goal: to be able to play on Monday,” Hillsman said. Later, he cracked a grin. “It’s time to look ahead now.”

Published on March 23, 2019 at 3:41 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary