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Syracuse’s offense was out of sorts in the first nine minutes against Yale as it fell behind 10-3. But then, the Orange took the lid off their attack.

After being plagued by offensive fouls and turnovers, SU found success by going to the paint. In the final minute of the first quarter, the Orange scored three layups to make it a one-point game. Then, Izabel Varejão scored 11 of her 12 points in the second quarter as SU jumped to a 13-point halftime lead.

“Once we started catching the ball and (executing) the post ups, we had to gather ourselves a little bit more than we were in the beginning to get those points up,” Journey Thompson said.

Behind 48 points in the paint and a dominant second quarter, Syracuse (4-4, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) cruised to a 78-50 win over Yale (1-8, 0-0 Ivy League). Varejão tallied a double-double, and Georgia Woolley led SU’s 10 scorers with 16 points. The victory improved the Orange to 3-3 at home before they head to Texas A&M for their first true road game.

Angelica Velez ignited SU’s offense early with a drive inside. She found a cutting Kyra Wood for a layup on the left side to give the Orange a 2-0 lead. Though that was SU’s only basket in the first five minutes. Syracuse shot 1-of-6 from the field as Yale jumped in front 6-2.

Syracuse had trouble establishing position on the low block. At the 3:30 mark in the first quarter, Thompson worked down low and had the ball swiped away. Then, with under two minutes left, Varejão posted up her defender and was called for an offensive foul.

Following a two-minute scoreless stretch, Lucy Lynn netted a jumper to give the Bulldogs a 10-2 lead. But with under a minute in the first quarter, the Orange’s offense went on a 7-0 run. Wood added two more layups, including one at the buzzer, to bring Syracuse within one point entering the second quarter.

“(Wood) was catching everything, she can catch a gnat,” SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “She’s got great hands and we couldn’t say that about her last year, she’s evolved into that.”

The Orange netted their lone 3 in the second quarter. After a missed free throw by Woolley, Saniaa Wilson grabbed the board and found Sophie Burrows on the right wing to give SU the lead 13-10.

Syracuse’s early recipe for success was going through Wood. After tallying six points in the first quarter, she continued to propel SU. In the first four minutes of the quarter, Wood collected two steals and finished inside off a pass from Burrows.

Then, with Wood on the bench, SU kept going to the paint. Shy Hawkins caught a pass on the right block and rose over her defender for a jumper. At the 4:00 mark, Olivia Schmitt located Varejão for an open layup.

After matching Yale early in the second quarter, Varejão’s personal 7-0 run was key to SU stretching its lead. Varejão netted three free throws and finished with a spin move as Syracuse’s advantage grew to 25-18. The Orange’s center tallied 11 second-quarter points to lead SU into halftime ahead of Yale 33-20.

Syracuse kept attacking the paint to start the second half. Keira Scott backed down her defender and hit a spinning fadeaway. Then, Velez returned to the floor for the first time since the 7:01 mark of the first quarter and was fouled on a drive inside. She sank a pair of free throws, extending SU’s lead to 17.

Velez then used her vision to find Thompson on the post for a layup midway through the third quarter. Woolley missed the mark on two outside shots earlier in the quarter but found success inside, too. The Australian drove on Marisa Chapman and converted an and-one layup, putting Syracuse ahead 44-25.

On defense, SU protected its own paint. Varejão took a charge against Kiley Capstraw and also collected boards inside. The Orange outrebounded the Bulldogs 14-7 in the third quarter.

Earlier this season, Syracuse football head coach Fran Brown told Legette-Jack that the Orange lacked the same toughness as last season. But Legette-Jack said Syracuse flipped that trait by playing through contact and finishing at the charity stripe, where SU sank 13-of-15 free throws in the third quarter.

“Getting to the line says toughness,” Legette-Jack said. “Getting rebounds says toughness. Pushing the ball and getting the ball inside says toughness.”

Entering the fourth quarter, Syracuse led 60-32, benefiting from its aggressiveness in the paint. Wilson, who had played limited minutes this season, was Syracuse’s scoring outlet in the quarter. On a fast break, she ran the floor and finished a layup. Then, she converted on back-to-back possessions as Dominique Camp found her on the low block.

The Bulldogs responded with a 9-0 run, but Hawkins quieted their attack with two straight layups. At the 2:00 mark, Scott muscled through the paint to convert a basket, putting the finishing touches on SU’s dominant interior performance.

“We knew from the jump that there was going to be mismatches down there because (Yale) didn’t really have any true bigs,” Thompson said. “So, us bigs did a good job of picking up what the team needed in that scoring area.”

Published on December 1, 2024 at 2:31 pm

Contact Timmy at: tswilcox@syr.edu | @TimmyWilcox32