Alaysia Styles is ‘bright spot’ for Syracuse in blowout loss to Notre Dame

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At the end of the second quarter, Syracuse was battling back against Notre Dame, trying to secure a lead for the first time since the opening possession of the game. The Orange used the 3-point line as their main point of attack, and guard Najé Murray heaved up her third attempt of the game.

As Murray was setting up for her shot, Alaysia Styles ran inside the paint and set up for a rebound. She was able to get the rebound on the left side of the basket for an easy putback. Styles’ domination on the boards put Syracuse within two of the lead.

“Alaysia played really well. She’s a great mobile player,” Syracuse acting head coach Vonn Read said. “I thought she was one of our bright spots today.”

But for the rest of the outing, Styles and the rest of Syracuse’s offense was unable to get shots to fall, ultimately losing 82-56 to Notre Dame. The Orange were undersized against the Fighting Irish, not able to guard against the opposition’s bigs inside the paint. SU also failed to make up for the 20 turnovers it created, shooting 25% from beyond the arc. Styles led the Orange in points with 14 and also recorded six rebounds and one block.

Styles is one of seven transfers on Syracuse’s 2021-22 team, and she’s one of only two listed forwards on the roster. While she wasn’t technically at center — a position that Read said would be filled by “committee” — Styles moved around the paint to create confusion for Notre Dame.

She also used her hustle play early against the Fighting Irish. In the first half, she repeatedly fit into the center role for the Orange, posting up or receiving the ball on the outside.

“What helps up a lot is that Eboni and I in our previous schools have played out a lot, so this is our first year we’ve played inside more,” Styles said. “I think we can do a lot of things that we’ve done in the past.”

But Styles and the rest of Syracuse’s offense struggled against the Fighting Irish’s 2-3 zone, unable to get into the “minimal” spaces that were there for its offense to navigate. Styles said that the Fighting Irish were long, keeping their arms wide in order to close passing lanes for the Orange’s offense. This worked throughout the entire game, an issue Styles said Syracuse would have to figure out how to overcome through the rest of the season.

The way Styles was able to make up for her height was with her timing on rebounds. She finished with three offensive and three defensive boards, jumping up with her right hand extended on numerous plays to try and tip the ball to herself. The Orange finished with 20 offensive rebounds, compared to the ND’s 14.

“I happen to be in the right place at the right time,” Styles said. “I think we did a great job crashing the boards, and I was able to get into position.”

But Styles was also able to create opportunities for her teammates by flushing out defenders under the basket through her movements from either side of the post. At the beginning of the fourth quarter, she helped Eboni Walker find a lane inside for a quick layup.

On the next play, she batted the ball around in the air before securing it and sending the Orange in transition. But SU missed in the paint, and Styles said that it was hard for its offense to get through Notre Dame’s zone near the basket.

“Just trying to get those small areas, they were really big so that was hard,” Styles said.

As Syracuse was unable to create offensive opportunities, Notre Dame continued to extend its lead to more than 20 by the final minutes of the game. But Styles continued to battle inside on Syracuse’s last few possessions of the game.

Styles took the ball herself on the Orange’s second-to-last possession, driving hard from the top of the key. She faked to her right and then to her left to make Notre Dame’s Sam Brunelle move away from the basket. Styles went up for a one-handed floater, but like the majority of Syracuse’s shots today, her shot didn’t fall.

“We haven’t played at all, and there’s so many new people here,” Styles said. “After these two games it’s getting better, but we can only improve by playing games.”