Syracuse women’s basketball (7-10, 1-5 in Atlantic Coast Conference) is back in action Sunday against Boston College (11-8, 2-4 in Atlantic Coast Conference) at the Conte Forum. To put it simply the Eagles have dealt with business this season. The games they should win they win, whereas the games against ranked teams and the better half of the ACC they don’t win. To put it in perspective, BC has lost by an average of 29 points to ranked teams and won by an average of nearly ten versus bottom half of the ACC squads.
Unfortunately for Syracuse they are one of those bottom half teams, so that means this game is going to be an uphill climb for the Cuse. But that doesn’t mean SU has no chance in this game, matter of fact they could easily upset BC. One player who Syracuse will need to be at her best is Kyra Wood.
Last time out against the Cardinals the senior had 17 points, a team high and the game before that she dropped 18, one shy of her season high. Her 18 points also led Syracuse to its first ACC win of the season against Miami last Sunday. But despite her electric performances recently, one of the reasons she’s so key to this squad is because of what she does for the team.
“You gotta love when Kyra’s out on the floor,” SU head Coach Felisha Legette Jack said, “She doesn’t really care about scoring or rebounding, she just cares about making sure she takes care of her sister, she’s been our captain for 3 years and she understood the assignment.”
Kyra Wood will need plenty of help, but her good play could lead to success in Chestnut Hill.
As good as Kyra Wood has been there is a player on the other team who is red hot. Boston College guard T’Yanna Todd dropped 29 points last time out in an 83-79 win over Miami. That’s a hard mark to surpass but in her two games before that she was a huge factor still. The junior had 18 points in a loss to No 19 North Carolina and 20 tallies in a defeat to No 22 NC State. What that means is the Syracuse defense will inevitably make mistakes against Todd, but the team is prepared for that.
“It’s about the discipline of the game,” Felisha-Legette Jack said, “The ability to make a mistake defensively and then we get the ball and you run down the floor as if it wasn’t you.”
So while the team may need to limit their mistakes, they are ready to bounce back with whatever is thrown in their way.
Even though Syracuse women’s basketball season hasn’t went how they would have liked so far, there’s still 12 games left of ACC play. SU has to get hot quickly, but they’ve had a fair share of close game losses that easily could have went their way. One of those was the overtime loss to SMU, which was a killer. But as the team approaches mid January the team knows what it wants to accomplish.
“The biggest component of what we’re trying to do right now in January is having the coaches surrender to the system, us to surrender and getting disciplined into what we stand for,” Felisha Legette Jack said, “Whether you like it or not this is what we stand for.”
So the task is simple. Get a second break through win in ACC play and use that to build momentum. Game time is at Noon in the Conte Forum. Be sure to tune in on WAER at 1130 with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.