Despite blowout victory over CCSU, Syracuse displays inconsistent defense
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Syracuse had a lot to back up defensively after holding Lafayette to just 41 points in its opening game. The Orange forced the Leopards to shoot under 40% from the field en route to a blowout win.
Friday night proved to be a little different for SU due to sloppy defending in the first half. Despite leading by 21 points at the break, the Orange left players open all over the floor and weren’t quick on defensive rotations. It led Central Connecticut to go 5-for-7 from 3-point range, including four straight to start the game.
Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack called the Orange’s help defense in the first half “uncharacteristic.” She felt her team was trying to “swat or block” everything instead of playing solid defense.
After a poor defensive half, Syracuse (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) turned it around in the second in its 101-53 victory over Central Connecticut (0-2, 0-0 Northeast Conference). The Blue Devils scored just 26 points in the last two quarters, including eight in the fourth. After CCSU’s hot start from deep, Legette-Jack switched to a 2-3 zone in the last two minutes of the first half. Postgame, Legette-Jack said SU has 3-to-4 defenses that it’ll use in 2023-24. The Orange switched back to man defense in the second half, holding Central Connecticut to just 39% shooting. The Blue Devils shot 1-for-10 from deep in the third quarter and missed all four attempts in the fourth.
After Sophie Burrows opened up the scoring with a 3-pointer, Central Connecticut’s Megan Kenefick answered right back. Belle Lanpher used a cross-over dribble to skip by Alaina Rice and get into the paint. Her dribble penetration caused Syracuse’s defense to collapse, leaving Kenefick open on the wing for a 3, which she drained.
CCSU didn’t come in as an offensive juggernaut. The Blue Devils shot just over 20% from the floor, scoring just 35 points in their 17-point loss to Manhattan in the season opener. In the first half, Central Connecticut nearly equaled that total with 27.
After a 9-2 run, Syracuse led by seven before another 3-pointer by the Blue Devils. Emma Bruen found Kenefick cutting down the lane. Once again, as Syracuse’s help defense came a split second too late, Kenefick hit Ally Sentance, who knocked down CCSU’s second straight 3-pointer and cut SU’s lead to 12-8.
“We’re going to look at this film and realize that we were trying to swat at things,” Legette-Jack said. “When we were swatting at things, they would get the ball to the person as wide open but you just left because (you’re) over-doing your job.”
SU finished with six blocked shots, but Legette-Jack said she doesn’t care about the stat. She only worries about if a player is forcing a tough shot. Lanpher hit another triple to cut Syracuse’s lead to three with two minutes remaining in the first quarter. But a 10-2 run to finish the second quarter helped the Orange create separation.
Samora Watson’s triple in the second quarter made it four straight 3s from the Blue Devils. For the rest of the game, though, they shot just 2-for-17 from deep.
“We were just playing good help defense and we had each other’s backs,” Burrows said about Syracuse’s defensive adjustments. “We were flying around.”
Central Connecticut’s hot shooting forced Legette-Jack to switch to zone defense toward the end of the first half.
“We’re going to see if we can bring it out and just try to fine tune it before we hit some heavy hitters down the stretch,” Legette-Jack said.
Point guard Dyaisha Fair said the zone worked well and Syracuse was “in sync” when it switched. Despite using it sparingly in the second half, Legette-Jack revealed they’ve been working on it in practice and plan to use it going forward at times.
When Syracuse was in the zone, Watson split Rice and Fair at the top of the key. Before getting to Alyssa Latham in the paint, she finished with a floater, cutting the Syracuse lead to 48-27. SU stuck to a man-to-man defense coming out of the break.
With Syracuse leading 54-29 in the third quarter, Kenefick found herself open in the corner. This time, the help defense came quick enough with Latham closing out the attempt as it fell short. Izabel Varejão corralled the board.
“We were just having fun and showing passion,” Legette-Jack said. “We had discipline and integrity, those words that we’re going to throw around all season long and we were reminded of what we stood for.”
Despite the inconsistent defense at times, the Orange forced 23 turnovers, 15 of which came in the first half. They scored 21 points off those turnovers. Rice came up with four takeaways, including one in the first half where she jumped the passing lane leading to an easy breakaway for Fair, who finished with a game-high 28 points. So far, the Orange are averaging over 20 steals per game after notching 18 against Lafayette.
“When you fly around, you know that your sister has your back and we haven’t figured out if she’s got our back because we are too busy trying to stay with our own player,” Legette-Jack said.
