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On Thursday, Syracuse was neck-and-neck with Georgia Tech through the first three quarters. The Yellow Jackets had entered the contest at the bottom of the Atlantic Coast Conference standings and were winless in their previous seven conference games.

But GT ended the game on a 15-3 run as the Orange saw themselves lose hold of the game in the final frame. Georgia Tech won 69-57, giving Syracuse a loss on the front end of a two-game road trip. And on Sunday, it traveled to Durham, North Carolina, to face No. 13 Duke.

Syracuse jumped out to a quick 7-0 run behind buckets from Teisha Hyman, Dariauna Lewis and Dyaisha Fair. The Orange held that lead for most of the first half until the Blue Devils ended the first 20 minutes on a 7-0 run. Syracuse came back in the final quarter, cutting the lead to as low as two. But the Blue Devils slipped away, getting a 62-50 win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (13-7, 4-5 ACC) game against Duke (17-2, 7-1 ACC) on Sunday:

Syracuse comes back, but falls short

Syracuse went cold in a stretch from the second quarter and into the third, briefly relinquishing control of the game. But, then it started to chip away at the lead, cutting the deficit to as close as two points in the fourth quarter. Kyra Wood grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds to score on second-chance opportunities for the Orange, and Fair also knocked down a couple of free throws, too. Alaina Rice had back-to-back buckets to make it a five-point game with two and half minutes remaining, converting on a contested layup and a baseline jumper on the left side.

After a Blue Devil free throw made it a six-point game, Fair tried to pass the ball off to Georgia Woolley but it was deflected, resulting in a Celeste Taylor transition layup. Then, Taylor made a jumper which basically iced the game, giving Duke a 10-point lead with 1:30 remaining.

Duke’s 22-4 run catalyzes win

Syracuse held the lead for the first quarter and a half, keeping up with the ACC’s best team. But then, over a stretch from the late second quarter and into the third quarter, the Orange cooled off, conceding a 22-4 run over the span of 10 minutes as the Blue Devils took their first lead off of a Taylor 3-pointer. A Fair jumper with 5:38 remaining in the third quarter was the first field goal of the period.

The run gave Duke a temporary double-digit lead before Syracuse slowly chipped away at it. Saniaa Wilson worked inside the paint and posted up her defender, scoring a bucket to cut the lead to four.

Taking advantage of the turnovers

Both teams combined for 37 turnovers, with SU leading the way with 19. It presented many fast-break scoring opportunities for both sides in a very back-and-forth game early on.

Fair intercepted multiple passes in the first quarter. On one play, she scored a midrange jumper in transition, and on another, she saw Woolley streaking down the court. Passing the ball into her stride, Woolley scored the fast-break layup to give Syracuse an 11-4 lead.

Duke capitalized on SU’s mistakes, too. Trying to save a ball from going out of bounds, Fair threw it right to a Blue Devil player, allowing Taylor to go coast-to-coast and score a layup in the paint. Then, in the fourth quarter as Syracuse cut its deficit to just 43-41, Rice tried to find Fair in stride, but her pass sailed above Fair’s head and out of bounds.

In the third quarter, Fair, one of the conference’s best at steals, pressured Taya Corosdale at midcourt, forcing a turnover steal. She reset the Syracuse possession and passed to Hyman at the top of the key, who gave it back to Fair at the left wing. Fair drove and scored on a midrange pullup.

Alaina Rice, Saniaa Wilson off the bench

Typically, Syracuse doesn’t go too deep into its bench, playing a rotation of seven to eight players. In Thursday’s loss against Georgia Tech, Syracuse saw minimal production from the bench. But on Sunday, Rice provided a spark, notching nine first-half points. On one play in the fourth quarter, Fair found Rice on the wing. Rice then penetrated into the lane and scored the contested layup.

Hyman had the ball at the top of the key. She penetrated into the lane, while Rice ran along the baseline and settled at the left wing. The penetration caused Rice’s defender to bite toward Hyman, leaving Rice open at the left wing, where she swished a 3. Rice finished 4-of-6 in the first half. On another play, Rice found herself down low with multiple defenders caved in on her. But she used her strength to get a hard-fought two points in the paint.

Wilson usually doesn’t see the floor too often, but against the Blue Devils, she received several minutes. She contributed to the Orange’s comeback, working her way in the paint on one basket and knocking down a free throw.

Published on January 22, 2023 at 2:50 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini