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After escaping Yale with a two-point victory, Syracuse returned to the JMA Wireless Dome to face Coppin State. Once again, the Orange started slow, trailing for the first 15 minutes of the game, but a Dyaisha Fair 3 gave SU a 42-41 lead — its first of the game.

Fair went on to have a season-high 27 points in a 93-75 win over the Eagles. On Sunday, SU welcomed Wagner, who entered the game off a six-point loss to New Hampshire.

Much different than Yale and Coppin State, the Orange never trailed in their win over Wagner, jumping out to a 45-23 halftime lead and dominating down low. Syracuse scored 52 points in the paint and Dariauna Lewis controlled the offensive glass, creating several second-chance points. From start to finish, Syracuse easily handled the Seahawks, cruising to its seventh home win to remain undefeated on its home court this season.

Here’s some observations from Syracuse’s 83-53 rout of Wagner:

Much better start

Against Coppin State, Syracuse trailed 10-2 early on, conceding a couple 3s to the Eagles’ Mossi Staples. Against Yale, it trailed 37-25 at halftime. On Sunday, however, Syracuse controlled the game right from the start, jumping out to a 16-8 lead by the first media timeout.

Alaina Rice, who returned to the starting lineup, made a couple layups inside, while Teisha Hyman knocked down a jumper from the free-throw line to get the Orange up 4-0. Hyman also added a pair of free throws. Syracuse also forced four Seahawk turnovers within the first five minutes, including two traveling violations. On another play, SU’s full-court press forced an errant pass.

The Orange led 45-23 by the end of the first half, electing to drive inside frequently and scoring 34 points in the opening period from inside the paint. Wagner’s Kem Nwabudu was the only bright spot for the Seahawks in the opening period, responsible for 10 of 12 first-quarter points.

Lewis’ rebounding creates second-chance points

Part of Syracuse’s strong ability to score in the paint came off second-chance opportunities as a result of Lewis’ dominance on the boards. Lewis had a personal 4-0 run toward the end of the first quarter, which put Syracuse up by 15.

Hyman went coast-to-coast, dribbling behind her back through the lane, but she missed the layup. It didn’t matter because Lewis easily grabbed the board and put it back in. On SU’s next basket, the play was almost identical as Hyman drove into the paint and Lewis secured the putback to give Syracuse a 25-10 advantage.

To score her 11th point of the game, Georgia Woolley heaved near the paint as the shot clock expired, but it missed. Lewis muscled the ball away in a cluster of defenders, immediately going up and scoring the layup. By the game’s end, she finished with 13 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.

Lewis also dished out some assists. In the third quarter, Lewis was positioned on the right side of the court. She waited for Asia Strong to cut toward the basket, passed the ball and watched Strong make another basket inside the paint. On a fast break, Hyman dribbled down the left and found Lewis on the baseline where she connected with Strong again for a 2-pointer.

Dominance inside the paint

Syracuse isn’t the best 3-point shooting team in the country and when it struggles, it knows to go where it usually has size. The Orange scored 52 of their 83 points from inside the paint as Lewis and Strong continued to contribute down low. Other times, it was fast-break opportunities that culminated in layups.

The Orange started scoring inside right away, as Rice put in a layup. And in the fourth quarter, once all of the starters were removed from the court, Kennedi Perkins missed a jumper. But Cheyenne McEvans grabbed the rebound, went up strong and got help from the rim to score.

Turnovers, turnovers and more turnovers

Wagner entered the game averaging 17.1 turnovers, which ranked 212th nationally, per Her Hoop Stats. In the first half on Sunday, the Seahawks had 11 turnovers, including six traveling violations in the first 20 minutes. Syracuse quickly closed down the Wagner players, before the Seahawks tried to drive down the line, but occasionally, they’d shuffle their feet.

The Orange sparsely utilized the full-court press, but on one play, the Seahawks tried to break it before an errant pass went over their players’ heads and to the scorers table. On another possession, Fair stripped the ball and immediately passed the ball deep upcourt to Woolley. Woolley was fouled on the fast-break layup.

On the Seahawks’ opening possession in the third quarter, Zhaneia Thybulle dribbled just inside the 3-point line but tried to kick out to the right wing. Her pass was intercepted by Woolley. Syracuse wasn’t perfect either, committing 19 turnovers on Sunday, too.

Published on December 11, 2022 at 4:22 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini