SU’s free throws make up for inconsistent field goals against Pittsburgh

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Alaysia Styles carried a career-high performance to the free-throw line. She had two chances to give Syracuse its first lead of the game since the fourth minute. In the game’s final minute, Styles risked her perfect 8-for-8 free-throw shooting to put the Orange ahead.

Styles made both shots, securing her career-high 21 points. And as Teisha Hyman and Liatu King traded layups to close out the game, Syracuse held on to another victory at the expense of its shooting from the line.

After missing just five of its 31 free throws in its previous game against Virginia, Syracuse was able to hold on to a seven point win, but the Orange led for the entirety of that game. On Sunday, those trends continued but SU trailed up until Styles’ made free throws, using its ability to draw fouls as a cover up for its flaws in its other aspects of the game.

“Right there, down one with five minutes to go, we’ve been in that situation about six or seven times,” acting head coach Vonn Read said. “Our girls closed the game today and I’m proud of them.”

Syracuse (11-12, 4-9 Atlantic Coast) went 25-for-28 from the free-throw line as it narrowly defeated Pittsburgh (11-13, 2-11 ACC) for its second consecutive road win. The Orange drew 18 fouls, their fifth-highest of the season, which gave them extended looks at the basket after attempting their fifth-lowest amount of field-goal attempts.

Just before Styles made her two game-saving free throws, Hyman went 2-for-2 as well. Three minutes before that, Hyman made two more and then another pair 30 seconds before that. Syracuse’s fourth quarter comeback did not seem likely or even possible considering how poor its field-goal shooting was throughout the quarter as it shot just 4-for-11 from the field. In fact, the Orange made just one field goal in the last six minutes, albeit Hyman’s clinching layup in the last seconds.

“(We) shot almost 90 percent from the free-throw line, and that game we had to,” Read said.

Syracuse finished the fourth quarter with 18 points. It was its second-best shooting performance from the field, but it was also by far SU’s highest free-throw total. The Orange made all 10 of its shots from the line, with each make coming in the game’s final 6:07.

It was Syracuse’s second stint at the long-game tactic after using its single-point chances to scrape past Virginia last Tuesday. Against the Cavaliers, the Orange made just seven 3-pointers and were outrebounded 33-31. Still they succeeded off double-figures from four starters, including Najé Murray’s season-highs in points (24) and 3-pointers (5).

But against Pittsburgh, Syracuse’s woes from both categories were far worse than the Virginia game. The Orange made only two 3-pointers, one in each half, Murray was held scoreless for the first time this season and they were severely beaten on the boards 47-33, allowing 44 points in the paint. It’s why SU trailed by double-digits through the majority of the second quarter — it scored just once in the first four minutes of the period.

The Orange were able to draw fouls due to Pittsburgh’s aggressiveness inside. None of Pittsburgh’s players fouled out, but nine different Panthers accumulated a personal foul — the same number of players that SU dresses each game. But their fouls were seemingly more reckless than the one’s Syracuse committed. Whenever the Orange would secure offensive rebounds, the Panthers — the ninth-best rebounding team in the country — were in unfamiliar territory, often panicking and conceding costly fouls.

After Murray missed her fifth 3-pointer of the game midway through the third quarter, she ran inside the paint and underneath the basket to secure the rebound after the ball bounced past two Pittsburgh defenders. Murray dribbled the ball outside the arc and handed it off to Styles, who took off with speed anticipating a layup and was fouled by Cynthia Ezeja in the process. Styles made both free throws to pull Syracuse within five points.

Syracuse’s win, which seemingly wouldn’t have been possible if it relied on dominating the run of play, marked its fourth of the ACC season, with all four victories coming against teams that sit below the 11th ranked Orange. But as the players have alluded to all season, maintaining an all-around performance must come against the conference’s top teams, too.

Sunday’s game and the Virginia win saw SU take its most shots from the line all season, the fourth time it was awarded more than 20 free throws all season. But of Syracuse’s five remaining games, it faces only one team that is ranked below it, and it cannot continue to rely on building its lead one point at a time.