Emily Engstler never checked to see if Kiara Lewis was still in the corner before flinging the ball over her head. But she was, and the Carrier Dome rose in anticipation.

It was a sequence in the third quarter that came moments after another transition opportunity facilitated by Engstler on the left-wing — a pass fake to an invisible trailer. Clemson’s offense continued to gift Syracuse with easy steals, and the Orange continued to convert in transition.

This time, Lewis ended up with the ball but didn’t want to shoot the 3-pointer. The Orange didn’t have enough rebounders underneath. Gabrielle Cooper flashed into the lane, though, and finished with a right-handed layup. The Tigers signaled for timeout and Syracuse’s once-double-digit lead inched back toward that mark. 

Clemson had erased a 10-0 first-quarter run by the Orange with an 8-0 run of its own in the second. If Syracuse has become a tournament team, then the two games leading up to No. 10 NC State — the Tigers and then Notre Dame — had to simply be tuneups. For a span of three minutes in the third quarter, Thursday’s game was no tuneup. But a 17-2 response clinched a 59-46 win over Clemson (7-20, 3-13) for the Orange’s (15-11, 9-6 Atlantic Coast) fifth-straight victory.

“We lost our roll earlier in the season and earlier in conference play, but, you know, we’re finally gelling together,” Cooper said.

Nearly one month ago to the day, average teams weren’t simple wins for Syracuse because that’s exactly what it was: an average team. Miami beat the Orange by 15 points. Georgia Tech, 18. Then, Duke entered the Carrier Dome on Jan. 23 and steamrolled the Orange by 30 points, the first of three losses in four games. When that climaxed in Charlottesville, Virginia on Feb. 2 with their lowest point total in more than a decade, Syracuse’s season wasn’t falling anymore. It was crashing.

The turnaround came through sparks from the bench and a switch on offense away from 3-point reliance. Amaya Finklea-Guity used a softer finish from the block to become that center head coach Quentin Hillsman recruited her to be. When everyone meshed — like in Syracuse’s 10-0 run to open Thursday night — the Orange were a different team.

It took more than three minutes for Shania Meertens to score Clemson’s first basket of the game, and the Tigers couldn’t convert in transition. When Destiny Thomas euro-stepped and passed to Meertens, the junior bobbled it out of bounds. But the Tigers re-energized their offense through mid-range jumpers.

Possession after possession ended in baskets for the Tigers when the ball ended up just outside the block. Clemson forwards Kobi Thorton and Tylar Bennett complemented the rare 3-pointer (only 12 Clemson attempts all game) and Syracuse went on a nine-minute scoring drought — one that mirrored others that turned detrimental earlier in the season.

Its offense played unsettled, Hillsman said after the game. Clemson often doubled Lewis when she had the ball, and the Orange adjusted their pick-and-rolls to accommodate. When Finklea-Guity backed down her Tiger forward, she needed to get deep behind their zone, she said.

“That’s tough when you’re not making shots,” Hillsman said, “because everything is you’re playing in transition that you don’t want to play in transition and downhill the entire game playing defense.”

After Clemson closed the gap and eventually took the lead on a Hannah Hank layup, Syracuse’s incorporated changes started to work. Finklea-Guity secured an offensive rebound that ended with an open Cooper layup. A minute later, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi blocked a shot and Digna Strautmane sunk a 3-pointer to extend the lead back to four. From there, the Orange’s zone continued to force what ended as 27 turnovers.

On offense, a balance that at times this year evaded the Orange emerged. Four Syracuse players finished with eight points or more, and Strautmane continued to shoot open looks from beyond on the arc instead of passing them up. Teisha Hyman split two Clemson defenders in transition and eyed the left corner. There, Cooper stood with her hands extended and touched one pass back to Lewis on the wing, who sunk the 3-pointer.

“We had a little drought in the second quarter but we came back in the third quarter and we made shots,” Lewis said. “We were able to pressure them and turn the ball over.”

With 4:38 remaining in the fourth quarter, Strautmane’s 3-pointer bounced off the rim, but Cooper grabbed the offensive rebound. She cycled the ball around until Lewis corralled the ball on the left-wing, took a step in, and released.

Even though her shot bounced off, those sequences and second-chance opportunities helped the Orange rebuild their lead. At the other end, Hyman’s defense forced a Thomas 3-point airball and Strautmane pressured Mikayla Hayes into a travel off the rebound.

Clemson jogged toward the media timeout huddle with their heads dropped, the Orange’s raised. It’s a similar trend for them over the last 14 days, a stretch that may have saved their season.

“We’re just trying to contain the streak,” Cooper said.

Published on February 20, 2020 at 8:04 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew