Notre Dame blows out SU women’s hoops 82-56
Notre Dame blows out SU women's hoops
Syracuse Orange women’s basketball dropped an 82-56 loss against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Sunday afternoon.
The November matinee brought many fans to the Dome for the Atlantic Coast Conference matchup, along with the jersey retirement for SU legend Felisha Legette-Jack, who became the first SU female athlete to have their jersey retired.
The first quarter was full of offensive struggles for the Orange. They shot 4-18 from the field and couldn’t buy a bucket. 28 seconds in, graduate guard Najé Murray scored the game’s first points off her first of three three-pointers, giving the Orange their first and only lead all game.
The Fighting Irish took control of the game shortly thereafter, as sophomore forward Maddy Westbeld scored her team’s first six points. Notre Dame eventually scored 13 unanswered points, cutting off any opportunity of momentum for SU, who missed 12 consecutive field goals during that run.
With a little under three minutes left in the quarter, senior guard Chrislyn Carr ended SU’s offensive drought with a three-pointer. The Orange hit the double-digit mark with 10 seconds left, ending the quarter down 17-10.
The second quarter became a different story for both teams, as both sides increased the speed of play.
A couple of minutes into the quarter, the Orange started to put pressure on the Fighting Irish with a 1-2-2 full-court formation, and eventually a half-court match-up zone formation, which would pay off forcing seven turnovers in the quarter alone.
Carr led SU onto a 14-6 run over the next four minutes, with her dazzling dribble moves and creation of scoring opportunities for her teammates. Graduate forward Alaysia Styles pitched in four of her hard-earned 14 points during the run, and vocally led the defensive unit all game with hands sitting in the passing lanes.
Freshman guard Olivia Miles helped the Fighting Irish keep the lead, accounting for two points and four assists in the quarter. The Orange ended the quarter trailing 34-28.
Graduate forward Maya Dodson and senior guard Dara Mabrey led the way offensively for the Fighting Irish in the third. They knocked down jumpers to combine for 13 of the team’s 23 third-quarter points. SU’s Teisha Hyman had the hot hand and accounted for 10 points in the quarter, penetrating through the Fighting Irish defense and scoring from all angles.
During the fourth quarter, the Fighting Irish took off with the lead and outscored the Orange 25-7. Syracuse kept it close only trailing by five until the Fighting Irish took over and trampled their way to 21 unanswered points.
Freshman guard Sonia Citron and Westbeld led the way offensively to victory for the Fighting Irish. Westbeld finished with a game-high 19 points.
SU’s Styles and Carr scored seven points in the first two minutes, as the team never made another field goal. The Fighting Irish won 82-56.
“We just really have to be able to sustain our intensity and we played a really good team here,” coach Vonn Read said. “We’re gonna learn a lot about ourselves from this game and push forward.”
The Orange will look to redeem themselves against the Morgan State Bears this Wednesday at 7 p.m.
is a sports reporter for The NewsHouse, and a graduate student in the Broadcast & Digital Journalism program.
is a photographer for the Infodemic project.
