Observations from Syracuse’s 79-65 win over Notre Dame: Ball pressure, strong 4th quarter

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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — After two straight double digit comebacks in the JMA Wireless Dome against Clemson and Florida State, Syracuse took care of business on the road against Pittsburgh on Sunday. SU’s fifth straight win cemented it in the AP Top 25 for the second time this season, coming in at No. 22 — its highest ranking under second year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack.

Earlier this year, the Orange temporarily were in the rankings, but a blowout loss to North Carolina quickly knocked them out. But Syracuse hasn’t lost a game since, setting up a big time matchup on the road against No. 15 Notre Dame. In the ACC opener on Jan. 31, the Orange defeated the Fighting Irish 86-81.

Thursday provided a different challenge for the Orange. They were playing in Purcell Pavilion, a place it’s never won before, losing all 19 previous matchups.

The Orange scrapped their way to a six-point lead at halftime, due to a combined 23 points from Dyaisha Fair and Alaina Rice. In the fourth quarter, SU outscored ND 28-14, sealing the victory.

Here are some observations from No. 22 Syracuse’s (17-2, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) 79-65 win over No. 15 Notre Dame (14-4, 5-3 ACC).

A new wrinkle

When Syracuse faced off against Notre Dame three weeks ago, Sonia Citron didn’t play due to a knee injury she’d been dealing with since Nov. 15 against Northwestern. The junior is an integral part of Notre Dame’s offense scoring 18.9 points per game while shooting nearly 42% from 3.

Citron looked for her shot early on, but had mixed success. She attempted Notre Dame’s first shot of the game, but her 3-pointer rimmed out. After Hannah Hidalgo scored the Fighting Irish’s first points, Citron stole Fair’s inbound pass and finished down low to put Notre Dame up 4-2.

But the guard finished just 1-for-3 in the first quarter with four points. In the second Citron continued to misfire, missing her next two looks from beyond the arc. She eventually started to heat up. Citron relocated to the right wing, firing a 3-pointer which looked to be short, but rolled off the rim and in. Then she drained a 3-pointer from the left wing to cut Syracuse’s lead down to four late in the first half.

But after looking to get in a rhythm in the second quarter, Citron couldn’t get things going after halftime. A couple of wide open baseline jumpers sailed long. Citron finished with a season-low 14 points shooting just 4-for-17 from the floor, scoring only four points in the second half.

Notre Dame’s pressure

Led by Hidalgo’s on-ball defense, Notre Dame gave Syracuse’s guards zero space, providing tight pressure all over the court. In an effort to stifle Fair, Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey opted to put a taller player in Citron on SU’s point guard. And it worked, as the Orange were flustered throughout the first quarter, turning the ball over eight times in the opening period — SU committed a season-high 28 in its previous matchup with Notre Dame.

Notre Dame’s speed and length caused the Orange fits and forced them to look out of sorts on the offensive end. Whenever Fair looked to get free off a screen, Citron initially denied her the ball, forcing her to pop out further and initiate the offense from further out. But the Orange weathered the storm in the second quarter, turning the ball over just once over the next eight minutes, helping it build a six-point halftime lead.

The Irish turned up the heat in the third quarter, leading to a 10-0 run. After a Notre Dame bucket inside, Rice brought the ball up the floor, but was hounded by Hidalgo, causing her to lose her footing. Hidalgo went the other way, to put Notre Dame in front for the first time since halfway through the second quarter.

Although Syracuse finished with 16 turnovers the Orange held Notre Dame from getting out in transition in the second half.

Rice’s offense

If Fair had a tough matchup trying to score on Citron on offense, Rice’s might’ve been even more difficult. Hidalgo was Rice’s primary defender, but it didn’t deter the guard from being aggressive.

After just one point in the first quarter, Rice attacked in the second. She controlled the ball on the right wing, with Hidalgo right in her face, but Rice drove baseline, before finishing acrobatically at the rim to make the score 22-21. Minutes later Rice drove left but kept her dribble going before fading away towards the baseline to get another shot.

Rice looked to be in a rhythm, corralling the ball at the top of the key. A shot fake got her defender in the air, before pulling up for two. Then Rice put Syracuse in front 29-26 with a 3 along the left wing. The fifth year guard finished her stellar half with another left handed finish to give her 10 points in the quarter.

Rice remained aggressive driving the lane in the second half. Four free throws in the third quarter helped Syracuse weather the storm from the Fighting Irish who came back down by as much as nine to take a lead. With Syracuse looking to pull away in the fourth quarter, Rice got caught under the basket before Legette-Jack called timeout. Out of the timeout, Rice drove to the hoop and once again her floater was pure, putting SU up 11 with four minutes remaining. Rice finished with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field.

Another strong fourth quarter

Over the past couple of weeks Syracuse has had multiple miraculous comebacks against both Florida State and Clemson. On Thursday the Orange weren’t in a position to come from behind, but instead they led.

Syracuse’s advantage was six at halftime and as much as nine to start the third quarter. Then Syracuse’s bad habits started to emerge again. Everything that helped it get the lead went away. The turnovers returned and ill advised shots were taken, culminating in SU getting outscored 19-13 in the third, but the Orange stayed level with the Fighting Irish heading into the fourth.

But when it seemed like Notre Dame had the momentum, Syracuse stole it right back. Fair started to get things going, scoring a layup to start the fourth. After a broken possession from Notre Dame Kyra Wood pushed the ball up to Georgia Woolley on the left wing before dishing down low to Sophie Burrows who finished plus the foul, giving the Orange a 64-56 lead with 6:15 remaining.

Syracuse controlled the pace and with three minutes remaining, Fair had an open driving lane, but kicked to Woolley who converted her first three 3-pointer of the game as the Orange led 70-57, which proved to be the dagger.