After two road losses stemming from weak second halves, the Orange rewrote the narrative at Yale Sunday afternoon. Behind a second quarter comeback, Syracuse took down the Bulldogs 60-58, its first road win of the season.
The Orange have had some difficulty with second half play on the road this season. They collapsed and blew a large halftime lead at Penn State, and couldn’t muster up enough strength to come back in the fourth quarter at Purdue.
The Orange trailed 25-37 at the half, something few were expecting against a Yale team that had yet to face a Power 5 opponent. The offense was sluggish in the first half with Yale playing more aggressive basketball.
Dyaisha Fair registered just four points in the first half, and Teisha Hyman only had two points. Shots weren’t falling for the Orange.
Another first half struggle for the Orange was Yale’s ability to shoot from behind the arch. Out of the six threes Yale made, five of them came in the first half. Syracuse stayed in the 2-3 zone, though, something Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack spoke about following the game.
“I just think that shooters that don’t shoot well don’t usually make them, and they wouldn’t stop,” said Legette-Jack. “If the wrong people are shooting the ball, they’re usually going to stop making them, but they kept making them!”
The second half saw an overall more aggressive style of play from the Orange, which resulted in quite a few trips to the line. In the end, 20 out of Syracuse’s 60 total points came from free throws. Dariauna Lewis and Georgia Woolley both recorded six points from the charity stripe.
“We’ve got to get tougher when it comes to that. They’re going to grab and hold us,” said Legette-Jack. “We’ve got 13 players that can play basketball, so if they want to grab us, we’ve got to carry them to the basket.”
The team enacted a full court press in the second half, something she attributed to a desire to slow the game down.
Dariauna Lewis also played an important role, according to Legette-Jack. She noted that Lewis has only been playing basketball for six years, and that she believes wholeheartedly in her abilities. Lewis has been a tremendous presence in the paint for the Orange on both ends of the court. She put up one of the team’s best performance against Yale, something that must continue for the Orange to succeed in conference play.
The Orange are back in action this Thursday at the JMA Wireless Dome, where they will face Coppin State. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m.