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Despite a turnover from Dyaisha Fair, Lafayette couldn’t take advantage with Syracuse leading 43-21 at the beginning of the second half. The Orange hustled to get back into position defensively and after SU formed a wall near the paint, the Leopards kicked the ball out to Abby Antognoli.

Toeing the 3-point line, Antognoli missed the mark. Alyssa Latham ripped down her ninth rebound of the night and quickly passed ahead to Fair. As Fair crossed half-court, Sophie Burrows was left wide open on the right wing.

Burrows nailed her second 3-pointer of the night, giving Syracuse a 46-21 lead with 7:58 remaining in the third quarter. On the ensuing possession, Fair picked Kylie Favours’ pocket, leading to an easy layup for Latham on the other end.

Opening the second season of the Felisha Legette-Jack era, Syracuse (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) dominated Lafayette (0-1, 0-0 Patriot League), winning 75-41. Throughout the game, Syracuse was persistent on the glass and in transition, out-rebounding Lafayette 58-27 (25-6 on the offensive boards) and scoring 28 points off turnovers.

“We went into the game knowing that the other team was smaller,” SU forward Kyra Wood said. “We had to dominate the boards, so that was our focus.”

But early on, the Orange struggled. In the game’s first two minutes, Fair missed her first three shots while Izabel Varejão went 0-for-2 and committed a traveling violation. The Leopards took time to find their rhythm too, missing their first four shots.

After Fair corralled an offensive rebound off of a 3-point miss from Varejão, she reset the ball at the top of the key and found Burrows open on the left wing. Burrows hit from range for the game’s opening points at the 7:47 mark, but the Leopards embarked on a 7-0 scoring run over the next two minutes.

Trying to end the scoring drought, Varejão misfired from mid-range, but the Orange battled on the glass. Latham pulled down an offensive rebound and laid in an easy bucket to cut Lafayette’s lead to two.

The Leopards answered by getting the ball down low to Kayla Drummond for an easy layup before SU fed Latham in the post again, scoring her fourth of an eventual 15 points.

Following a timeout with 4:04 remaining in the first quarter, the Orange went on an 8-0 run, helping them carry a 20-16 lead into the second quarter. Although it only went 8-for-21 from the field in the opening period, Syracuse corralled eight offensive rebounds which led to 12 second-chance points.

“Defensively, we’re getting better,” Legette-Jack said. “We came out so stagnant and if we’re playing against an ACC team, that could be a 15-point blowout.”

Both teams hit a wall offensively toward the end of the second quarter but Syracuse’s suffocating defense masked its offensive drought. SU held Lafayette scoreless for the last 3:46 of the second half and its fast play ignited the Orange offense toward the end of the half.

After forcing Lafayette’s Kay Donahue into miss at the rim with 1:55 remaining in the second quarter, Alaina Rice ripped down her fifth rebound of the game and pushed the ball ahead to Lexi McNabb. With a full head of steam, McNabb drove towards the paint, causing the defense to collapse on her and leave Fair open in the left corner.

Fair drilled her second 3-pointer, extending SU’s lead to 38-21. Then, the Orange took their largest lead of the game (19) into halftime after Wood converted both of her attempts from the charity stripe.

“We were settling a lot in the first quarter,” Latham said. “I think once we settled in, we knew what we could do and honed in on what our strengths were.”

Midway through the third quarter, Syracuse’s dominance was on full display. After getting the ball down low to Wood, the forward followed up on her initial miss for a put-back score. Wood’s prowess on the boards culminated in SU’s 14th offensive rebound, extending the Orange’s lead to 29 points.

Following a 5-0 run by Fair — giving her a game-high 17 points — the Orange took a 62-25 lead with 2:48 left in the third quarter, then their largest lead of the game. Throughout the third quarter, the Orange outscored the Leopards 26-9.

After its primary rotation players dominated — with Fair (17), Latham (15), Wood (12), Burrows (10) and Rice (10) all scoring in double figures — Legette-Jack turned to her bench to close out a comfortable season-opening win.

“We have to be big, crash the boards and just be a force to be reckoned with,” Rice said.

Published on November 7, 2023 at 9:09 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon