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The ball went right into Dyaisha Fair’s chest on an errant pass from Andrea Daley, and Fair took off up the court in transition. But seeing that she was outnumbered, Fair waited for Alaina Rice to appear open on the right wing, where she buried a three-pointer to give SU an eight-point lead that would extend to 15. 

Rice scored five points during SU’s 15-3 run to start the third quarter, which resulted in the game’s biggest lead. She also collected five rebounds and two assists, including a full-court pass in the fourth quarter to secure an SU lead that had been chopped to two.

Rice tied two Syracuse career highs with 17 points and five steals, surpassing her previous season high of 16. The junior guard came out of the gate with confidence, scoring seven of Syracuse’s first 15 points despite beginning the contest on the bench. She picked up some of the slack from Teisha Hyman and Georgia Woolley, who rank second and third in points per game for SU, but struggled in the 83-73 win over the Eagles.

Rice picked up Fair midway through the first quarter by snatching the ball back from Taina Mair after Fair lost it in the paint. Rice zoomed down the court and weaved through traffic to find an open pocket in the paint, where she swished a transition jumper.

It always seemed like Rice was at the center of SU’s biggest moments. She came off the bench after four minutes of play to score seven of nine SU points, giving the Orange a lead they wouldn’t relinquish. She scored, she stole and she opened the floor on offense with her movement. 

The Orange were rolling when Rice collected her fourth steal midway through the third. She made her way up the court and inside before kicking out to Fair, who drilled the open three and gave SU a 50-35 lead, their largest of the night.

Nearing the end of the quarter, Rice showed off her multidimensionality on offense. After receiving a pass back from Dariauna Lewis with time running out on the shot clock, she threaded the needle between three Eagles defenders to find a wide-open Asia Strong under the basket.

Hyman played a season-low 18 minutes and committed a season-high eight turnovers, spending an abnormal amount of time on the bench, partly because of foul trouble. In the first quarter, Hyman chucked an inbounds pass from the baseline to the sideline, not even close enough for Lewis to make an attempt on it. 

Meanwhile, Woolley shot 2-of-13 from the field and 67% from the line in an eight-point performance. Despite playing a team-high 36 minutes, Woolley shot 15.4% from the field and went 0-of-3 from beyond the arc in her worst shooting line of the season. 

However, she supplemented her lack of scoring with some key assists, finishing with five. That included a first-quarter fast break where she took a Dontavia Waggoner turnover the length of the floor before finding Rice under the basket to make it 10-8 Syracuse. 

These poor performances from SU’s guards opened the door for Rice to play extra minutes, which she took full advantage of. After averaging 19.8 minutes per game and 5.0 points per game coming in, Rice eclipsed her season average within two minutes in the first quarter. She ended with 28 minutes played and a 22.0 efficiency rating, tied for second on the team.

As the game went on, Rice became a primary scoring option, as Hyman and Fair both had early foul trouble. Just after SU’s 8-0 run in the third quarter, Rice took matters into her own hands. She drove from the left wing but couldn’t get inside, so she hesitated before stepping back to the baseline and drilling a fadeaway jumper off the dribble. 

Rice was the difference-maker in a game that would have been close if not for the Eagles’ poor shooting performance. Syracuse doubled their 3-point percentage, making 8-of-16 while BC hit just 6-of-25. SU also had a higher field-goal and free-throw percentage, allowing them to hold the lead from 4:41 in the first quarter.  

Rice’s 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from deep contributed to those high shooting marks, as five-of-eight starters shot at least 50% from the field. But Rice shot the best of any SU player with over five shots while also hitting 3-of-4 from the charity stripe. 

With SU’s lead down to three with three minutes remaining in the game, Rice pulled down a rebound and slung a baseball pass up the court to Fair, who flipped up a fastbreak layup for her 20th point of the game. 

Rice showed offensive and defensive prowess in a game where two Orange guards, and leading scorers, were off their game. As a result, she won Syracuse’s hard hat, which is awarded to whoever has the most hustle plays each game. With five steals and rebounds off the bench, there was little doubt that she would earn today’s hardware. 

Published on January 13, 2023 at 12:34 am

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu