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Syracuse started its preseason with an exhibition against Le Moyne on Thursday, escaping with a narrow 73-70 win. But head coach Felisha Legette-Jack chalked the underwhelming performance up to nerves. 

“We were too afraid to make mistakes and that’s not a team that I coach,” Legette-Jack said. “It’s a game of mistakes and I need us to make some.”

After trailing at the end of the first quarter 19-13, the Orange responded with a 22-point second quarter to enter halftime with a one-point lead. Dyaisha Fair and Teisha Hyman, part of SU’s new backcourt, combined for 31 points on the night. 

The Orange seemed to have control of the game in its final minutes, leading 73-64 with just over two minutes remaining. The Dolphins cut that deficit to three with 11 seconds to go, but they failed to foul to put SU on the free-throw line to extend the game as SU escaped with the win.

Here’s some observations from the game:

Strong backcourt

On the very first play of the game, Hyman made something out of nothing. Off of a broken play, Hyman crossed the ball over on the left wing into a pull-up midrange, a shot she said she needed a lot more work on. She swished it and Syracuse went up 2-0.

Just a couple of plays after, Hyman caught the ball on the right wing. With no one cutting or moving to help her out, she settled for a pull-up three, which splashed in, giving Syracuse their seventh point. 

On Syracuse’s second offensive opportunity of the second quarter, Fair streaked down the right sideline, caught the ball in stride and laid it up with ease for two points. After getting a stop on the defensive end, she beat two Le Moyne defenders in the backcourt before firing a pass to Asia Strong to put Syracuse back in the lead, 24-19. 

“Putting on this uniform tonight and playing in front of everybody and this university was different,” Fair said. “That’s the word I would use to describe this — different.”

That different feeling translated into more points in the second half. Four minutes into the third quarter, Fair passed the ball to Hyman at the top of the key and relocated to the corner. She received the ball just a second later and took two jab-steps, teasing her defender. Off of a Lewis screen, she got to the middle, just a step inside the free-throw line and put up a floater into the back of the net.

Fair hit her second and third 3-pointers of the game in consecutive fashion around halfway through the fourth quarter. The first one came off a handoff from Hyman on the left wing. The second one came directly after Sierra Linnin hit a three of her own in the right corner. On the ensuing possession, Fair came down and hit a transition three.

“Once we found our rhythm after the first quarter, things just started opening up for the both of us and we just did what we could do best,” Fair said. “We know what we’re capable of feeding off of each other and playing off of each other.” 

More time is needed to gel

Throughout the first few minutes of the first quarter, the Syracuse offense was stagnant. Fair or Hyman were tasked with bringing the ball up the court, but no one helped. Minimal movement resulted in isolation plays that this Syracuse backcourt is capable of, but wasn’t able to capitalize off of in the early going. 

On the defensive side, missed assignments left sharpshooters wide open. Although Le Moyne couldn’t cash in, sloppy play still saw the Orange down 12-8 with 5:26 left to go in the first quarter. 

Just a few minutes later, with 2:49 left in the first, SU’s on-ball pressure had Le Moyne several steps behind the three-point line with nowhere to go. With the shot-clock winding down, Le Moyne’s Lexi Gruss forced up a prayer but Fair fouled her at the last second, giving her three free-throws. 

These mistakes bled into the third quarter. On one end, Hyman missed a wide-open layup. As Le Moyne came down the other way, what should have been an easy rebound for SU resulted in a collision between Lewis and Strong. The ball careened off both of their outstretched hands and out of bounds, giving the Dolphins another chance. 

“It’s going to be an adjustment, but I’m ready for it,” Fair said, speaking on the mishaps against Le Moyne. 

With 2:30 left in the third, Syracuse was on the fast break. Rice streaked down the middle with both Fair and Strong to her left and right. As Rice reached half court, she attempted a bounce pass — one that was played with way too much force. The ball bounced off the floor, way over Fair’s head, and out of bounds. 

“We like to push pace.” Legette-Jack said, despite the 14 turnovers that Syracuse totaled on the night. “Eventually we’re going to learn to make that pass, on the dot, and you won’t know how to make that pass unless you try it.” 

Syracuse bigs need to convert

Sometimes it was Olivia Owens, other times it was Kyra Wood, but there seemed to be a lid on the basket for SU. It wasn’t like the bigs didn’t battle down low. After the first quarter, the Orange led the Dolphins in offensive rebounding by a whopping 12-1 margin but no one was able to provide the finishing touch.

With 6:39 to go in the second, Strong had a clear path to the hoop. Driving to her left, she changed her mind at the last second, attempting a pass to Olivia Owens. Owens mishandled the ball for Syracuse’s sixth turnover of the game. 

Halfway into the second quarter, Fair had already shown her prowess in getting past her primary defender and shoveling the ball to a big inside. The only problem was that Syracuse didn’t tack on points despite being so close to the basket.

Early into the second half, Hyman probed the perimeter, searching for an entry pass of any sort. She found Strong, who tossed the ball quickly over right under the basket to Dariauna Lewis for a wide open layup. Lewis missed, unable to extend Syracuse’s slim lead. 

Toward the end of the third quarter, Fair dribbled the ball from the left wing across to the middle, coming off of a Wood screen and Wood began to roll. Looking toward the opposite wing, Fair dished a no-look pass, straight into Wood’s stride. Taking two steps, she finished on the right, capping off a beautiful piece of link-up play.

After one half of play, Strong had 15 points, shooting 50% from the field, to lead all scorers. Facing a Le Moyne 2-3 zone that Syracuse struggled against early on, Strong’s made its inside presence felt throughout the second quarter. Positioned at the top of the key, just a little behind the free-throw line, she would receive the ball, turn, and the floor would open up, allowing her to either pass or shoot, both of which she did a lot of.

Published on November 3, 2022 at 9:27 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff