Another poor 3-point performance sinks Syracuse in ACC Tournament loss

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Teisha Hyman thought Syracuse entered the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament “in a 3-point shooting slump.” The team has shot over 40% from beyond the arc just twice in the last two months, and Wednesday was no different. The Orange started with a missed 3-pointer from Hyman, who was guarded by Delicia Washington, that rattled in and out of the basket, spelling a disastrous beginning to another terrible percentage on 3-pointers.

A few possessions later, Najé Murray collected a cross-court pass from Hyman and shifted her shoulders for her first of eight attempts from deep. This one was wide-open, the type of “good looks” Hyman, Chrislyn Carr and acting head coach Vonn Read said Syracuse saw all afternoon. But the shot was too strong and it rolled off the backside of the rim, quickly ending an SU possession while the game was still tied at six.

The Orange lost by double digits for the fifth straight game. And while they went 13-for-28 in the 40-point blowout win the first time they faced the Tigers, shots didn’t fall in the first round of the conference tournament. Syracuse (11-18, 4-14 Atlantic Coast) went just 4-of-24 from deep in its season-ending loss to Clemson (10-20, 3-15 ACC).

“We knocked them down in our first game, we just didn’t knock them down (today),” Read said. “They just didn’t go down for us, and that happens.”

Syracuse entered the season with Chrislyn and Murray as proven 3-point shooters, guards that Read and the rest of the lineup knew they could rely on throughout the game to quickly pull up or create enough space to bury 3s at any point in the game. Murray, however, injured her ankle and had to be carried off by an assistant coach and Priscilla Williams in the third quarter in SU’s last regular-season game against Boston College. And after the game, Chrislyn said that her knees were hurting when asked how she was dealing with averaging over 30 minutes per game.

Chrislyn made two 3-pointers, the most by any player for the Orange, while Murray continued to clank shots off the rim, finishing 1-of-8 from deep. Christianna Carr, who scored 19 points the previous time the two teams faced off, also couldn’t hit from deep, even when left wide-open at the top of the key. Syracuse didn’t make a single shot from beyond the arc in the second and third quarter, opting instead to run the offense through Hyman and pick-and-roll plays utilizing Alaysia Styles.

In the second minute of the third quarter, Chrislyn took a contested 3 with a Clemson player towering over her. Then Murray tried from the other end of the court for a 3-pointer of her own, but she pushed the ball too far right and it missed everything. To end the scoreless sequence, Christianna hoisted up a 3 from straight on and watched again as the ball swirled in and out of the hoop.

“The way the game is, when we get momentum, our shots start falling,” Hyman said. “When we tend to miss, I think our confidence goes with our misses as well.”

During the third quarter, Christianna had the ball at the top of the key, hoping to follow up the success of Chrislyn’s shot from the field on the previous possession. She faked the shot, allowing Clemson’s defender to fade over to her, leaving Murray wide-open on her left. But once again, Christianna passed the ball over, Murray turned to get off a quick 3-pointer and watched as the ball rolled around the rim and fell to the court. Murray stood in place with her hands on her hips staring toward the hoop.

Murray’s make on the first play of the fourth quarter seemed like a shift in luck. It was the same quick-shot, good look that Syracuse wants, and it was the first of three for the quarter. However, Chrislyn and Christianna’s makes from beyond the arc didn’t make a dent in the eventual 19-point lead Clemson amassed. Teams typically shoot 33.1% from beyond the arc against the Tigers, according to Her Hoop Stats, but as Syracuse tired out and its form from talented college guards dropped, so too did the chance of redeeming a solid percentage from deep.

“We had some pretty good looks, but our players didn’t knock them down,” Read said.

Once Clemson adjusted to Syracuse’s pick-and-roll and built up enough of a lead to comfortably allow Hyman and Chrislyn to score in the paint, it brought more players out to the 3-point line, further complicating the Orange’s struggle on shots from deep. That happened toward the end of the second quarter and persisted during the third, when SU didn’t connect on any shots. But the open 3s that Murray missed quickly became contested ones that she’d either have to pass away from or attempt a more difficult look.

Murray went 4-for-8 from deep the last time SU played Clemson, Chrislyn went 3-of-7 and Christianna went 5-of-7. At the end of the second matchup, they combined to go 4-for-19. One of the few successful attempts from deep came in the second quarter when Chrislyn was fouled on a 3-pointer and made two of her three free-throw attempts.

“We got really good looks today, we just didn’t make them,” Chrislyn said. “I think we really shared the ball. We just got to make them.”