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Syracuse returned to its starting lineup after falling to No. 24 North Carolina with just seven players last week. Still, it needed to knock off the rust against Boston College, as some players didn’t return to practice until yesterday. The Orange jumped out to an early lead, helped by missed shots from the Eagles, but quickly fell behind.

For the second straight game, Syracuse couldn’t hang with an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent on the road, ultimately losing in another blowout, this time 95-71 to Boston College.

Here are five observations from Syracuse’s (8-6, 1-3 ACC) second straight conference loss to Boston College (10-4, 1-2).

Erratic play plagues Syracuse

North Carolina easily handled a seven-player Syracuse — cut down with injuries and COVID-19 protocols. SU fell back to the same unsuccessful possessions and coughed up the ball a season-high 23 times. “The main thing is just getting sped up,” Chrislyn Carr said of the Orange’s loss. “I think we have to slow down and be patient.”

Syracuse started strong against Boston College, but its zone started to become porous, and offensive possessions became shorter and erratic. Teisha Hyman quickly received an inbound pass and air balled a 3-pointer toward the end of the first quarter. Syracuse retained possession, but Carr’s ensuing inbound pass slipped through Najé Murray’s fingers and dribbled out of bounds.

Late in the second quarter, Syracuse missed four straight shots on one possession. It started when Hyman missed a floater and Murray’s second-chance attempt fell short. Then Murray missed again, and eventually Alaysia Styles heaved up an erratic shot that bounced off the backboard and into BC possession.

Alaina Rice dominates as sixth man

Alaina Rice has emerged as Syracuse’s sixth man, an aggressive spark plug to the Orange’s lineups as she’s been able to do a little bit of everything, something she prides herself on having the ability to do. “She’s tough enough to play inside, and she’s skilled enough to play out on the perimeter,” acting head coach Vonn Read said earlier this season. Early in Thursday’s game against Boston College, Rice checked in and made an immediate impact.

On defense, she stepped in front of Cameron Swartz, drawing a charge. After a failed possession from both teams, Rice quickly buried a 3 from the right side. She then spun around and stole the ball away on an errand pass at halfcourt to give the Orange possession. On Syracuse’s final play of the first quarter, Rice was able to get enough space on the left wing to knock down a 3 — her eighth points of the night — and keep the Orange within striking distance.

In the third quarter, while the game was well out of Syracuse’s grasp, Ally VanTimmeren got the defensive rebound at the top of the paint, but Rice threw two hands on it as well. Rice thrashed around for long enough to draw a jump ball that went Syracuse’s way. A few possessions later, she poked the ball away from Boston College in transition for another steal.

Early 3-point shots

Syracuse entered the game as the only team in the conference with all five starters scoring in double digits. Much of that offensive success has come from deep, with SU scoring 33.4% of its points from deep, according to Her Hoop Stats. Despite this, and that the Orange have sharp shooters like Carr and Murray, Syracuse has been streaky. Against Boston College, SU fell behind early, leading to 14 first-half 3-point attempts.

Murray finished the first half 0-for-4 from deep, including an air ball on a quick-trigger shot from the right wing. Carr knocked down a crucial 3 in the midst of a Boston College run early in the second quarter, but that was her only make in the first half. And it was followed up with an air ball by Hyman from deep.

Syracuse didn’t trend completely away from the long ball as the game went on but worked more toward finding success in the post and down low. In the second quarter, the Orange shot just three times, missing on all of them.

Boston College shooting out of zone

As Syracuse went cold after jumping out to an early 6-2 lead, the Eagles started making shots from deep. They entered Thursday’s game as an average team from beyond the arc, connecting on 31.2% of shots. They’ve had just two performances of over 40% from deep and replicated those performances against the Orange. But throughout Thursday night, BC easily shot over the 2-3 zone, especially in the second quarter, en route to a blowout win.

Marnelle Garraud missed her first two 3-point attempts but eventually collected a kick out from inside the paint and nailed the shot to snuff out Syracuse’s early lead. Boston College sat above 50% from 3-point range for the majority of the game, allowing the Eagles to slowly separate themselves from SU. The majority of Boston College’s newest member of the 1,000-point club Garraud’s points came from deep, and both Swartz and Makayla Dickens had three 3-pointers.

Poor shooting from the field

Syracuse entered the game shooting 49.2% from inside the arc, according to Her Hoop Stats but couldn’t replicate that same success against Boston College. While they were garnering a good amount of offensive rebounds to extend possessions, the Orange couldn’t knock down many second-chance points. Many opportunities were snuffed out by a much taller BC lineup, including freshman Maria Gakdeng, who finished the game with nine rebounds.

Early in the second quarter, Carr gathered a pass under the basket but hesitated for a split second, allowing three Eagle defenders to consume her, leading to a missed layup attempt. At various points throughout the game, Murray and Carr — two of Syracuse’s smallest players — found themselves unsuccessfully battling down low with the Eagle’s forwards on their defensive end of the court.

Published on January 6, 2022 at 9:09 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt