SU struggles to adjust to zone, shoots 33.3% in 75-62 loss to Virginia Tech

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Coming off the then-biggest win of second-year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s tenure on Dec. 31 against Notre Dame, the Orange fell flat in their next game against North Carolina.

SU was ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll — its first ranking since Jan. 2021 — but delivered its worst shooting percentage (29.6%) of the season against the Tar Heels. Syracuse’s leading scorers, Dyaisha Fair and Georgia Woolley, shot a combined 8-for-32 from the field while the rest of the team collectively shot 13-for-39.

SU responded with five straight wins, including comeback thrillers against Clemson and then-No. 15 Florida State, helping them re-enter this week’s AP Poll as the No. 22 team in Division I — its highest ranking under Legette-Jack. Then came Notre Dame again on Thursday, this time in South Bend. The Orange were previously 0-19 against ND on the road, but their dominant fourth quarter propelled them to a 79-65 win, reaching the peak of their season.

But like it did following its first win against the Fighting Irish, Syracuse’s offense fell flat in its ensuing game. On Sunday, No. 22 Syracuse (17-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) fell 75-62 to No. 19 Virginia Tech (16-4, 7-2 ACC) after struggling to adapt to the Hokies’ zone. The Orange’s 62 points and 33.3% mark from the field were both the second-worst marks of their season, only trailing their performance against the Tar Heels.

“(Virginia Tech) went to the zone because they’re not fast enough to guard us,” Legette-Jack said postgame.

Although the Hokies primarily played zone throughout the contest, they played the Orange man-to-man on their first five possessions of the game. SU forward Alaina Rice made a contested scoop layup for the first points of the game, but the Orange missed their next four shots.

After Alyssa Latham air-balled a baseline jumper, Rice corralled the rebound before she was fouled and made both free throws. Rice gave SU a 4-3 lead three minutes into the game, and after the Orange forced VT’s Matilda Ekh to turn the ball over, they looked to extend their lead.

But that’s when Virginia Tech first deployed its zone defense. VT clamped the Orange’s offense for almost the entire shot clock. With five seconds remaining, Woolley looked to make a move at the top of the key, but Georgia Amoore picked her pocket, converting a fastbreak layup on the other end.

On the Orange’s next two possessions, Rice had open 3-point opportunities, but she missed both attempts — two of SU’s 17 missed 3s. Then Woolley tried creating a shot for herself on the left wing, but she traveled trying to break free of the Hokies’ zone. It took SU two and a half minutes to finally score against VT’s zone when Fair nailed a driving floater, but Virginia Tech had jumped out to an 11-6 lead.

“Defensively, they played tighter inside. We tried to kick the ball, and that’s how we got all those 3s open, defensively they close the gaps inside more so,” Rice said.

Across the first quarter’s remaining four-and-a-half minutes, the Orange went 1-for-5 from the field and turned the ball over three times. Meanwhile, VT’s offense was firing on all cylinders, shooting 9-for-16 from the field, including 5-for-7 from 3, to take a 23-9 lead into the second quarter.

After struggling in the first quarter, Syracuse looked like a completely different team in the second. 30 seconds into the frame, Rice caught the ball behind the arc on the left wing. Unlike she did in the first quarter, Rice pump faked the opportunity before taking two dribbles inside the key and draining the mid-range opportunity after a miscommunication from VT’s defense left her wide open.

Fair and Woolley contributed to chip away at Virginia Tech’s lead, scoring on back-to-back possessions that cut SU’s deficit to seven. The Hokies responded with a 6-2 run, but Woolley nailed 3s on back-to-back possessions, regaining life for SU’s offense midway through the quarter.

Kyra Wood pulled down a miss from VT’s Elizabeth Kitley, who shot a season-worst 3-for-13 from the field, and passed the ball to Fair. The fifth-year senior immediately pushed the pace, not allowing the Hokies to set their zone. As she penetrated the lane, Fair dished to a wide-open Saniaa Wilson, who converted on the layup.

On the next possession, Fair, SU’s leading scorer, notched her 10th point, making a contested jump shot over Kitley after driving by two VT defenders. The score cut the Orange’s deficit down to four with 4:46 until halftime, but SU was held scoreless for the next nearly three minutes.

Latham got SU back on the board, but the Orange’s second-to-last possession of the half made it seem like they were figuring out the zone. After catching the ball behind the 3-point line with seven seconds left on the shot clock, Fair rose up near the free throw line, but with Rice cutting into the paint, she fired her an overhead pass leading to an easy layup.

Legette-Jack said postgame that she wanted her team to continue challenging VT inside, like Rice had, but her team backed away in the second half. Throughout the first seven minutes of the third quarter, Syracuse kept pace with Virginia Tech trailing 47-43 after Woolley knocked in a layup but missed the free throw after getting fouled.

The Orange scored the remainder of their third-quarter points from the free throw line, trailing 55-47 at the start of the fourth. Despite its success getting into the paint, SU only attempted one shot from inside throughout the first five minutes of the fourth. Syracuse still trailed by eight, but its inability to make shots from the outside soon piled up. Throughout the final frame, the Orange shot 5-for-20 from the field, allowing Virginia Tech to close the game on a 10-5 run and prevent the Orange from completing a comeback like it did against Clemson and then-No. 15 Florida State in back-to-back games.

“We got to figure out what a 2-3 zone did to us to make us feel like a boogeyman out there,” Legette-Jack said. “It’s a 2-3 zone. And we got to figure out how to get those gaps right.”