Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Syracuse and Boston College both coughed the ball up 22 times in a sloppy SU victory. Although the Orange led since the first quarter, BC came charging back in the fourth. It rattled off a 9-0 run to get back in it, but Syracuse fended off the Atlantic Coast Conference rival to pick up its third-straight conference win. 

Ultimately, the comeback was for naught, because SU crushed Boston College with their shooting efficiency. Doubling the opposition’s 3-point percentage, the Orange rallied behind Dyaisha Fair and Alaina Rice. 

Here’s some observations from Syracuse’s (13-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) 83-73 win over Boston College (13-6, 3-3 ACC). 

Sloppy from the start

A combined nine turnovers in the game’s first five minutes made for early transition opportunities. Seven of SU’s first 10 points and four of BC’s first eight came on fast breaks. 

Just a minute-and-a-half into the game, Asia Strong had Dariauna Lewis with position down low, but her lob pass went so far out of bounds that Lewis didn’t even jump for it. 

Minutes later, the teams gave the ball back-and-forth three times in just 40 seconds. Fair lost the ball to Taina Mair on a drive before Rice swiped it back just seven seconds later and raced down the court for a transition jumper in the paint, which she swished. On the next possession, Woolley stole the ball and passed up to Rice for another fast break bucket, this time an uncontested layup.

The sloppiness continued in the second half as each team finished with 22 turnovers. As time ticked down in the third quarter, BC got the final possession and settled for a mid-range jumper in the paint, which airballed, but Maria Gakdeng rammed into Woolley while each went for the rebound. Woolley missed one of the free throws on what was an indicative final possession for both the Eagles and Woolley.

Alaina Rice steps up

Rice eclipsed her season average in the first quarter, scoring seven of SU’s first 15 points. She succeeded in transition, scoring off her own steals, of which she had three, as well as getting out in front off the break. 

Rice got in a groove with her shot in a way that SU had never seen from her. With Hyman on the bench with foul and turnover trouble, Rice started trusting her handle. During an 8-0 third-quarter run, Rice drove from the left wing before stepping back on the baseline, connecting on a fade-away jumper. Rice tied her SU career high with 17 points in 27 minutes.

As BC pulled back in the fourth quarter, Rice showed her eclectic value on offense, threading the needle to Strong with mere seconds left on the shot clock. Strong laid it up with ease. 

Teisha Hyman and Georgia Woolley struggle

SU’s second and third-leading scorers were dreadful on Thursday night.

Hyman may have finished with 11 points and two steals on 4-of-7 shooting, but eight turnovers plagued her efficiency. With Fair off the court for the end of the second quarter, Hyman was thrust into the primary ball handler role, and she couldn’t hold onto it. 

Hyman got the ball on the wing, faked left and drove straight to the hole, running right through Gakdeng for a charge. Hyman committed three fouls and two turnovers in the quarter’s final two minutes, during which BC went on a 7-0 run to shrink SU’s cushion from 10 to three. With a team-high 40% usage rate, Hyman was irresponsible with the ball and only earned a positive, but measly, 4.0 efficiency rating due to her high shot percentage.

Meanwhile, Woolley made just 2-of-13 for two points. She missed easy floaters, both of her 3-point attempts and earned a negative efficiency rating, SU’s only such rate in this game. Then Woolley got to the line twice to close the third quarter, but missed half of her four free-throw attempts.

SU outshoots BC

Syracuse decimated the shooting-percentage discrepancy. It shot 50% from deep while BC only managed 24%. SU shot 48% from the field and BC shot 40%. Five of SU’s eight players shot at least 50% from the field, rallying behind Fair’s 25 points and Rice’s 15. They each made two 3-point shots and Fair made 11-of-13 from the stripe.

This was a game of runs, where each team had multiple 7+-point runs without the other scoring at all. However, Syracuse did not forfeit their lead at all after jumping ahead 12-11 in the first quarter. During that time, the lead was as large as 15 and as small as two.

Published on January 12, 2023 at 9:33 pm

Contact Wyatt: wbmiller@syr.edu