It took Haley Gorecki and Duke almost the entire shot clock to find an opening in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Defenders cut off driving lanes and took away 3-point looks. Still, a minute into the fourth quarter, Gorecki drove into the lane past Kiara Lewis and kicked a pass out to Leaonna Odom in the short corner for a mid-range jumper as the shot clock horn buzzed. 

Even when Syracuse played sound defense on Thursday night — which was rare — it couldn’t stop Duke’s inside-out offense. That 30-second possession gave Duke a 25-point lead and took 12 seconds longer than the amount of time SU held a lead (18) in the Carrier Dome. In total, Duke scored 46 points in the paint and shot 8-for-15 from behind the arc. For the second consecutive home game, Syracuse (9-9, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) showed why it allows the second-most points per game (68.6) in the ACC during a 88-58 loss to Duke (10-9, 4-4), the most points the Orange have surrendered in regulation this season.

“We gotta decide what we want to be, what we want to be known as, what we want to do,” Gabrielle Cooper said. “We can’t just come out and expect things to happen … You don’t just come out and get stops. We play in the ACC, the best conference in the country. Teams are not just going to throw the ball away. Teams are not just going to miss shots.” 

After the loss, Cooper pointed to three equally important defensive missteps that have plagued Syracuse this year: Finishing possessions with defensive rebounds, running back in transition, and “guarding the ball.” Against Duke, Syracuse was out-rebounded 47 to 33, surrendered 19 fast break points, and allowed the Blue Devils to shoot 49.3%, with most of their shots coming in the paint.

The defensive performance led SU head coach Quentin Hillsman to question his team’s effort and consistency for the second-straight home game, saying they need to “make some decisions.” In previous games, like against Georgia Tech and Oregon, Syracuse allowed opponents to explode for 30-plus points in a quarter. But on Thursday night, the Duke scoring stream maintained a steady flow: Twenty-one points in the first, 28 in the second, 22 in the third and 17 in the fourth.

Even one minute into Thursday’s game, Hillsman knew his defense was in trouble. After allowing Duke’s leading scorer, Gorecki, an open look from 3 — which she missed — Hillsman called a timeout to regroup. Gorecki (19 points, five rebounds, nine assists) would be the least of the Orange’s problems, though, as Mikayla Boykin came off the bench and nailed five first-half 3s. 

Unlike Gorecki, Boykin wasn’t part of SU’s game plan. A “non-closeout,” Cooper said. But Boykin hit her first two from the corner, then walked into lightly contested 3s as Syracuse defenders hesitated to adjust the coverage. Making decisions like that in real-time is something Syracuse needs to improve on, Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi said.

“We’re not guarding the ball, we’re not boxing out, they’re getting second-chance points, they were getting way too many fast break points,” Cooper said. “So, they were just picking us apart in those ways. They were just running on us and we weren’t getting back.”

One soft spot in SU’s zone appeared to be the short-corner, on the baseline between the block and the corner. Odom (23 points, 10 rebounds) routinely caught entry passes there, took two dribbles into the paint and finished at the rim. Six of Odom’s 10 boards came on the offensive glass, exacerbating the rebounding disparity. 

“We’re not rebounding well,” Hillsman said. “Even possessions where we’re getting stops, they’re getting the ball back.” 

SU couldn’t contain Odom in the half-court, and its press didn’t make the defense’s job easier. With the Orange shooting 32.3% from the field, they rarely had the chance to properly set up their full-court press. Even when they did, Duke routinely beat it by flashing a player to the middle or throwing a pass over the top. 

Even when Duke scored leak-out layups after nearly every made Syracuse basket, the Orange stayed in the press. Hillsman reiterated postgame that the full-court press is part of SU’s identity he believes it needs to win long-term. But on Thursday, a 21-point halftime deficit eventually grew to 30, and the Blue Devils continued to score with ease. 

“Forty-six points in the paint is ridiculous,” Cooper said. “Absolutely ridiculous. We can’t win that way.”

Published on January 23, 2020 at 11:56 pm

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