Observations from Syracuse’s loss to Penn State: 4th-quarter collapse, turnovers

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

Syracuse entered the Bryce Jordan Center on Monday as a team that dominated against non-Power Five schools. The Orange beat the opponents they were supposed to by convincing margins. And in the first half against Penn State, it seemed like that was going to happen again.

Penn State was the first Power Five opponent for SU, who had only a 40% win probability against the Nittany Lions according to Her Hoop Stats. But the Orange started fast, making six 3-pointers in the opening six minutes alone to jump out a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter. 

But while Syracuse shot lights out in the first quarter, the roles reversed in the fourth quarter. In the final 15 minutes alone, Penn State outscored SU 37-14. The Orange had virtually zero answers for Shay Ciezki and Makenna Marisa, who both notched 13 points in the final frame. 

At one point in the second half, the Orange held a 21-point lead, but ended up losing by double digits in their first loss of the young season.

Here are some observations from SU’s 82-69 collapse loss over Penn State: 

Fourth Quarter Collapse

Penn State grabbed some momentum at the end of the third quarter. The Bryce Jordan Center started to increase in volume as Chanaya Pinto nailed one jumper from behind the arc, and one near the foul line.

Ciezki also heated up at the start of the fourth quarter, nailing a 3-pointer in the opening minute. Ciezki drove to the hoop and drew contact on the layup, making both free throws. Alaina Rice made her third 3-pointer of the night to silence the crowd just a bit, but Ciezki nailed a corner 3 on an inbound pass. 

After Asia Strong missed a corner 3-pointer, Pinto scored on a fastbreak layup, waiting for Strong to try and block the shot. Penn State now held a 61-60 lead with over six minutes left, its first lead of the night. While Rice responded with another 3-pointer to make the score 63-61, Ciezki nailed a shot from beyond the arc while the shot clock expired to give PSU the lead right back. Ciezki finished as PSU’s second-leading scorer. 

Everything had gone wrong for Syracuse. Strong failed to control the ball on an SU possession, and Marisa nailed a jumper from the post. Then Hyman picked up her fifth foul, removing SU’s best scorer. In a flash, there was a minute left and Syracuse was down by seven points in a game where the Orange led for all three prior quarters. 

3-point explosion in first quarter

To start the game, Syracuse got one of its best starts by taking advantage of 3-pointers against the Nittany Lions. The Orange exploded, nailed six shots from beyond the arc in the first quarter. This has served in stark contrast to the rest of the season as SU made only 20% of its 3-point shots through its first four games against average defensive teams. 

Dyaisha Fair knocked down a 3-pointer in the corner to open the scoring for the Orange. This was Fair’s consistent spot as she nailed three shots from behind the 3-point line in the right corner. On her second made triple of the night, Fair was a little closer to the wing, but created separation to have an unencumbered look. But on her third make in four minutes, she was firmly back in the corner, making the score 24-11.

Their six 3-pointers in less than six minutes of play were the Orange’s most in a game all season. Into the second quarter, Fair almost lost possession of the ball, but regained her composure, firing a pass to Alaina Rice, who nailed a 3-pointer at the wing. By the end of the game, the Orange regressed back to their mean, finishing with 36% clip from deep.  

Lots of turnovers too

While the 3-pointers were abundant early on for Syracuse, it also struggled in keeping possession. In the first half, SU had 11 turnovers, just less than what it had in a whole game against Binghamton, although in line with its numbers against Stony Brook, Colgate and LIU.

In the final minutes of the second quarter, PSU became the beneficiaries of a rare turnover from Fair. Dariauna Lewis flew in to steal the ball away from Penn State’s Makenna Marisa. Lewis rushed up the floor before sending a pass to Fair. The Buffalo transfer ran quickly in the face of a Penn State double team, leaping and then passing the ball to no teammate, sending the ball out of bounds and giving the Nittany Lions possession.

Midway through the third quarter, Hyman drove down the lane and turned to her left before trying a bounce pass to Saniaa Wilson. But she was too far ahead of Hyman, and the ball bounced out of bounds. Hyman lightly hit her chest and indicated that it was her fault. 

Hyman again turned the ball over when she tried to swing a pass out from under the basket, only for Ciezki to be lurking in the corner and getting Penn State’s seventh steal of the night.

In the fourth quarter, the Orange gave up the ball five times to the Nittany Lions’ zero turnovers, but had no answers for Penn State’s shooting.