With 7:30 remaining in the first half on Saturday, Cornelia Fondren fed La’Shay Taft in the corner for a 3-point look. Taft displayed no hesitation as she took the shot and drained it, with nothing but net.

The basket gave Taft 11 points for the game, a season high. Combined a strong team performance, Taft’s shooting burst helped pave Syracuse’s path to an 80-39 matinee victory over Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome in front of a season-high crowd of 1,355.

“Shay Taft came in and made shots for us,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We need her to do that. That’s what she does.”

Taft finished the game at 4-of-5 shooting, including a 3-of-4 effort from beyond the arc. All of her scoring occurred in the first 12:30 of the game, where the Orange set the tone with swarming defense and precise shooting from an assortment of players.

Taft’s first 3-pointer put the Orange up 16-6 with 10:51 to play, snapping a 4:45 span in which Syracuse missed 12 consecutive shots from the field. Elashier Hall stole the ball away from Pitt’s Chyna Golden and fed it to Taft, who wasted no time in shooting.

On SU’s next possession, Taft was at it again, taking a pass from Rachel Coffey and draining a three to put the Orange up 19-8. The shot struck a chord with the Syracuse bench, as a number of players stood up in cheer.

Two possessions later, the Orange waited patiently for a good look, swinging the ball around the outside for nearly half the shot clock. When Carmen Tyson-Thomas took the ball at the top of the key and dribbled inside, she saw Taft open down low and fed it inside for the easy layup, making it eight consecutive SU points for the 5-foot-7 junior guard.

“Games are going to happen in whatever way it’s going to happen,” Taft said. “I wasn’t stressing. I shot the ball, made shots and just continued to make shots. I stayed positive.”

In all, Taft scored 11 of 12 Syracuse points in a 3:21 span that turned a 13-6 game into a 25-10 Orange advantage. Once Taft drained her final 3, the Panthers couldn’t pull within 15 points the rest of the way.

The strong performance was a continuation of a sound effort from beyond the arc at Georgetown, where Taft chipped in nine points on 3-for-4 shooting, in just five minutes of play.

The Georgetown game provided a spark to Taft’s game, she said, adding she wants to ride the hot streak for as long as she can.

“I do,” Taft said. “I really do, I really do. It’s still warm. I tell my teammates, I still have shots just carrying over from the Georgetown game. I’m fine with it and I’m happy with it, so it’s good.”

Before the nine-point effort in the 69-60 victory against the Hoyas, Taft had scored only three points in a five-game period, while being held scoreless nine times in a 12-game stretch.

She had played more than five minutes just once in the six games prior to Saturday. But aided by her scoring burst midway through the first half, Taft played 14 minutes against Pitt, two away from her season high of 16 against Seton Hall on Jan. 30.

“I just want her to be a clean and solid basketball player,” Hillsman said. “And she has the talent to do that. She’s started to do better. She’s making shots, so she’s been rewarded with opportunities.”

Taft’s 11-point effort was second on the team to senior center Kayla Alexander, who continued her assault on the SU record books with a 19-point effort on 7-of-13 shooting in 23 minutes. Brittney Sykes and Carmen Tyson-Thomas also chipped in double-digit scoring efforts, with 10 points apiece.

When players like Taft can complement the likes of Alexander and Tyson-Thomas, the team’s depth is hard to match, Hillsman said. Against Pittsburgh, that was the case.

“I always talk to her about how she may be one of the most talented players that I’ve got to coach,” Hillsman said of Taft. “She is – she’s a very talented offensive player, the way she can shoot the ball and get to the rim. We need to continue to get her to contribute.”

Published on February 16, 2013 at 5:39 pm

Contact Kevin: kmprisei@syr.edu