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Three days ago, Syracuse had its closest and most devastating game of the year. Against a lowly SMU squad, the two teams were deadlocked 64-64 at the end of regulation. In overtime, the Mustangs’ Nya Robertson sank an off-balance floater with 1.2 seconds left to hand Syracuse a 72-71 loss.

That was just the most recent loss in SU’s 0-4 start to conference play this season. The Orange were handily defeated by then-No. 10 Notre Dame, then-No. 13 Georgia Tech and Florida State, all strong teams in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

On Sunday, SU hosted Miami, which recent three-game skid puts it at the bottom of the ACC. This presented another opportunity for Syracuse to capture an elusive conference win. SU started with one of its best halves of ACC play, going up 31-23 at the break, propelled by holding Miami’s leading scorer Haley Cavinder to seven first-half points. Syracuse eventually turned this into their first conference victory.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (7-9, 1-4 ACC) 66-61 win over Miami (11-5, 1-4 ACC):

Syracuse forces turnovers

Early on, Miami played sloppy basketball, racking up 12 turnovers in the first half alone. Syracuse took advantage, scoring 17 points off those turnovers, leading to its 31-23 halftime advantage. First, Haley and Hanna Cavinder committed turnovers, followed by a Journey Thompson steal. The Hurricanes finished with seven giveaways through 10 minutes.

The trend continued into the second quarter, with Miami notching five more turnovers. Haley, who struggled through most of the first half, led it with four giveaways.

Conversely, Syracuse controlled the ball well in the first half, only recording seven giveaways in that time. As the game wore on, Miami became better with the ball, while Syracuse stayed on its same course.

In the second half, Miami cleaned up its ball handling, only registering one turnover through the first five minutes. To start the fourth, Dominique Camp stole the ball from the Hurricanes twice, leading to a Shy Hawkins layup. Miami finished the game with 19 turnovers, leading to 24 SU points.

Slowing Haley Cavinder

SU’s bout with Miami marked the third straight contest where it faced one of the ACC’s top scorers. The Orange allowed FSU’s Ta’Niya Latson (NCAA-leading 27.7 points per game) and SMU’s Nya Robertson (20.8 points per game) to both notch over 25 points.

On Sunday, Syracuse dealt with another major threat in Haley, whose 17.9 points per game ranks sixth in the ACC. Though this time, Haley struggled, propelled by tight defense from the Orange.

Haley’s first shot rattled off the rim, then she followed with a airballed 3. She didn’t make her first shot until the eight-minute mark of the second quarter, an and-one layup. She followed that up by drilling a mid-range jumper to push Syracuse’s lead to 21-17. Miami’s leading scorer made one more shot to close the half, giving her just seven points at the break, alongside four turnovers.

In the second half, Haley converted her first attempt with ease. However, she missed her next two attempts, both clean looks. The Orange continued to shut her down throughout the rest of the game. Though she finished with 17 points, she made just three baskets in the second half and shot 35.3%.

Wood’s revival

Kyra Wood, SU’s leading rebounder and third-leading scorer, missed the last two games while in concussion protocol. She also missed parts of previous games with an unspecified injury. While she was out, Syracuse couldn’t consistently replace her production, with Journey Thompson and Saniaa Wilson making starts in her place.

Despite not starting against Miami again, she entered midway through the first quarter and immediately sank a layup. Wood tacked on once more near the end of the quarter and converted her first look of the second, pushing her to six early points.

Wood sat on the bench for most of the second quarter, but reentered midway through the third. At the three-minute mark of the third quarter, Wood converted a contested layup, and missed the ensuing free throw. On the next possession, she pushed her total to 10 points after hitting a second-chance field goal.

At the end of the third, Wood converted two straight layups, part of a 9-0 Syracuse run that pushed its lead to 50-38. She exited for much of the fourth but still ended with 18 points in her first game back from injury.

Poor 3-point shooting

While Syracuse hasn’t been horrible from 3 this season, it shot an abysmal 3-for-16 on triples versus SMU. Syracuse missed its first three attempts on Sunday before Angelica Velez drilled one from the left corner to end the first. Still, this marked SU’s only made triple in the first half.

The Hurricanes, on the other hand, possess the second-worst 3-point percentage in the ACC, draining just 29.5% of attempts. Therefore, they were just as bad as SU on Sunday. Natalija Marshall, Miami’s best shooter from deep, misfired its first 3 midway through the first. Then, despite two Darrione Rogers makes, Miami whiffed on three triples in the first quarter alone.

In the second quarter, both teams’ struggles continued. Through the first half, Syracuse shot just 1-of-9, with Miami not much better at 2-of-11.

To open the back half, Rogers drained a 3, but the make was bookended by two more Miami misfires. Besides Rogers, who drilled four more triples in the half, nobody else had much luck for the rest of the game, with Syracuse shooting 18.8% from 3 on the night.

Published on January 12, 2025 at 8:15 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99