Observations from SU’s loss to Louisville: Battle inside, nightmare 2nd quarter

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Just four days after suffering a 13-point loss to then-No. 19 Virginia Tech, Syracuse traveled to Louisville for a meeting with a program it’s only beaten once in its last 13 tries. The Cardinals provided SU an opportunity to right its wrongs from the previous outing, and get back to the level it had during its 79-65 win over then-No. 15 Notre Dame.

Syracuse appeared as though it’d respond with a bang early on, holding a 21-14 advantage through one quarter. Dyaisha Fair was shooting well from deep, Georgia Woolley provided an efficient eight first-quarter points and SU’s defense kept Louisville at bay.

But that all changed in the second quarter. SU reverted back to a form that it fell to during the second half in a loss against North Carolina and the first quarter versus VT. It struggled from the floor, forcing errant shots, and allowed easy offensive chances on the other end.

The Orange watched their lead evaporate and trailed by six at the break. While they then failed to generate consistent offense in the second half — allowing their deficit to pile up to as much as 15. After a 9-for-16 first quarter, SU shot just 7-for-32 during the next 20 minutes, which left the Cardinals with a commanding lead it failed to come back from.

Here are some observations from No. 21 Syracuse’s (17-4, 7-3 ACC) 81-69 defeat to No. 16 Louisville (19-3, 8-1 ACC) at the KFC Yum! Center Thursday:

Paintball

Despite being without Izabel Varejão for what’s been an extended period of time, the Orange have been a strong team inside throughout ACC play. Compared to the nation, they ranked No. 5 in offensive rebounding and No. 13 in total rebounding heading into the evening. And Louisville posed a threat down low in senior forward Olivia Cochran.

SU’s Alyssa Latham and Kyra Wood were challenged from the start by Cochran. On Louisville’s initial offensive possession, Cochran sneaked by Wood near the free throw line, received a pass from Sydney Taylor at the cup and converted an easy lay-in. A few plays later, Cochran poked the ball away from Latham which led to a Kiki Jefferson fast break finish on the other end.

Though the Orange had answers in the first. Early on, Jefferson drove the lane and got blocked by a looming Latham at the rack. Latham kicked it out to Fair, who went coast-to-coast and netted a dazzling, up-and-under finish on the fast break for a 6-5 Syracuse lead.

Later on, Fair was working around the perimeter while Wood wrestled for position with Cochran. The point guard bounced a pass toward Wood, who pulled it in, turned right and banked an easy layup for a 10-6 SU advantage.

As the game wore on, Louisville sparingly targeted Cochran on its offensive possessions — reflective of Latham and Wood staying in front of her paired with SU displaying porous back court defense. Cochran held her own defensively, though, limiting Wood and Latham to a combined eight points and stuffing them at the rim for each of her team-best two blocks.

The rebounding battle remained mostly even, but Cochran was efficient when she got the ball while Latham and Wood couldn’t match it, as the two shot just 40% from the floor on just 10 attempts.

Nightmare 2nd quarter leads to offensive halt

Ten minutes into the contest, Syracuse was right where it wanted to be. It held a 21-14 lead through the opening quarter, where Fair and Woolley combined for 15 points.

Yet the second couldn’t have been much worse. The Orange shot just 25% compared to Louisville’s nearly-65% mark and were outscored 26-13 — trailing at the break despite a dominant start.

The nightmare period began with three straight mid-range jumpers made by the Cardinals, while SU went 0-for-2 from the field and had one turnover during the span, warranting SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack to call for a timeout. Then, Merissah Russell dished a feed inside for Eylia Love who netted the ensuing layup. The play was followed by a Taylor fast break layup coming off of a turnover from Latham, capping off a 10-0 Louisville run to take a 24-21 lead.

Syracuse’s offense heated up in the first, but it completely cooled off in the second. The Orange were static. They couldn’t find passing lanes, movement lacked around the perimeter and they struggled to answer to the Cardinals’ extra-attention on Fair. Syracuse began the quarter 0-for-6 from the field and had four total giveaways by the end.

Steam picked up a little bit for the Orange, when a six-point burst during the tail end of the second brought them within one point. In response, though, Taylor drained two straight 3-pointers, which helped Louisville to a 40-34 advantage after the first half.

The offensive standstill carried over to the third quarter. SU got a few 3 makes — two from Alaina Rice and one from Woolley — but nothing other than that. The Orange shot an even worse 3-for-16 clip from the field through the third quarter, which let Louisville’s lead balloon to 13 points heading into the fourth.

Containing Fair when it mattered

Fair entered Thursday coming her lowest-scoring contest since the calendar flipped, where she scored just 16 points and was limited late during a loss to Virginia Tech. Though the star point guard was on fire to start against Louisville, dropping seven first-quarter points — highlighted by a step-back 3 over Jayda Curry — which gave SU a solid lead early.

Then, Louisville implemented an aggressive scheme to stop Fair. It remained in a man-to-man set but its guards converged in to trap Fair on drives while Nina Rickards and Jefferson locked her down on the perimeter with even more double-teams. Fair finished 4-for-9 from 3, with three of them while trailing big late in the fourth.

Fair was held to just three points during the third quarter. On one play with under 1:00 left in the third, she couldn’t muscle through Louisville’s Nyla Harris and a converging Cochran. This made Fair resort to throwing up an errant heave at the rim while falling to the floor. It was a play indicative of Louisville’s mindset: let anyone score but Fair, who shot 0-for-4 in the third.

By the end of the loss, Fair did end up tallying 28 points off 10-for-23 shooting — spurred by a 13-point fourth-quarter where the Cardinals’ defense sagged off as they held a commanding lead. Despite the strong fourth, Louisville limited Fair for large stretches, which allowed it to keep a comfortable lead over Syracuse for the majority of the contest.