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The last time Syracuse played Boston College, it was playing with a lineup reeling from the effects of COVID-19 protocols. The Orange shot 33.3% from the field, and their typical starting five faltered in Najé Murray and Alaysia Styles’ first game back. Alaina Rice stood as the only bright spot for a team on the second leg of an eventual six-game losing streak. 

But Sunday, the Orange were healthy apart from the exhaustion caused by a season of being overpowered down low and two recent 40-point losses.

Yet the result was the same. Boston College quickly jumped out to a 21-4 lead in the first six minutes, helped along by a perfect 5-for-5 performance from deep that buried SU before it could settle in. The Orange continued to be overmatched down low, shooting woes persisted, and the second half felt less like a microcosm of the lost season but more of a fitting end to it.

Here are five observations from SU’s (11-17, 4-14 Atlantic Coast) final regular season game, a 91-75 loss to Boston College (19-10, 10-8). 

Defending the 3

Boston College is a potent shooting team from beyond the arc. Led by Cameron Swartz, the Eagles finished 11-of-22 from deep the last time the two teams played. It only took Boston College three possessions in the first quarter to bury Syracuse into an early deficit. Swartz lightly dribbled at the start of the first possession, choosing instead to pull up and knock down her first 3 of the day. 

On the next possession, Ally VanTimmeren pulled up and swished through her attempt. Then Marnelle Garraud grabbed a pass from her right side, quickly turned around and capped off a 9-2 run. The Eagles started a perfect 5-for-5 from deep, missing for the first time with 3:28 left in the first quarter on a possession that ultimately ended with a BC layup. 

Drawing fouls

Syracuse wanted to be a fast team when it began the year. But early against Boston College, the fast and, at times, chaotic offensive approach led the Orange to the free throw line, arguably the only bright spot of an otherwise abysmal offensive performance. Styles in particular flew around inside the paint, which led to two made free throws to slow the game down. Then, Teisha Hyman frantically grabbed a rebound and bolted to the basket, drawing a shooting foul and prompting two makes from the line.

SU fell into its own foul trouble, like it usually does, but VanTimmeren collected two fouls in the first half, leading to her absence and ultimately mitigated production later on. Boston College went into the bonus first, and the Orange utilized those drawn fouls to reset. On one play, Chrislyn Carr set up a play that culminated with a layup from Hyman. In the fourth quarter, Hyman stole the ball away from Swartz and bolted for a layup. Swartz ended up getting called for a foul, her third of the afternoon, leading to a 16-point deficit.

4th-quarter comeback makes game look manageable

Syracuse was reeling from a terrible shooting performance, bad defensive play and the injury of Murray as the fourth quarter began. But then it went on a 20-5 run in the first six minutes to cut the lead down to 11 points. With Nyah Wilson in for the injured Murray, Syracuse began applying a full-court press in a last-ditch attempt to clamp down on Boston College’s talented shooting lineup.

With two straight steals and a personal 4-0 run by Hyman, the momentum finally swung to Syracuse. The Orange were finally hitting shots, getting around defenders and stringing together successful possessions. A little later in the quarter, Hyman drove down the lane and shifted to her right to avoid the Boston College defender. The move allowed the guard to easily roll in an uncontested layup. 

But then Taylor Soule flipped in a layup of her own to extend BC’s lead back out to 13 points, and Hyman missed her shot. The Eagles made a few more shots inside, and eventually acting head coach Vonn Read called a timeout to empty out his bench and check out all of his senior starters.

Missed chances down low

Second-chance opportunities frequently fell into the Orange’s hands against Boston College. While they were outrebounded, oftentimes Styles was able to grab an offensive rebound down low or Murray and Chrislyn would grab a long rebound. But a 40-second stretch in the second quarter encapsulated Syracuse’s struggles on offense against the Eagles. The Orange had possession for 40 straight seconds but were unable to score, marred by strongly-contested shots and off-balanced layup attempts.

Styles found herself underneath the basket and pump-faked a few times before finally shifting to her right and throwing up a shot that ended up hitting the bottom of the rim and dribbling out of bounds. SU is used to finishing games with fewer rebounds than its opponent, but after the third quarter, the Orange had grabbed more offensive boards than BC. That’s what made the ensuing missed putback shots and kickout attempts visibly infuriating for the Orange.

Can’t stop BC inside

As the game progressed, Boston College shifted away from raining 3s down on the Orange. But that might’ve been because nearly every time the Eagles drove inside, they came away with points. Points in the paint has been a consistent thorn in Syracuse’s side — specifically in two recent games when it allowed 44 points in the paint. Unlike in previous games when SU would periodically lock down and snuff out opponent’s attempts to get inside the paint, Boston College easily found its way down low throughout.

On one play to start the third quarter, Swartz grabbed the ball and stood at the top of the key. It took her a second, but once she realized three Orange players were standing on the right side of the paint, she drove left and  — untouched — finished with a layup.

Published on February 27, 2022 at 2:11 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt