SU women’s basketball open season with a trio of double-doubles

Syracuse women’s basketball hosted Lafayette in its season opener Tuesday night. Led by three double-doubles from graduate guard Dyaisha Fair, freshman forward Alyssa Latham and graduate guard Alaina Rice, the Orange cruised to a 75-41 win.

Syracuse started sluggish, as a three-pointer from freshman forward Sophie Burrows just over two minutes into the first quarter were the first points on the board for either team. Lafayette followed with a 7-0 run before the Orange went on a 6-0 run before the media timeout.

“I think we were forcing a lot, settling for a lot in that first quarter, and I think once we settled in and do what we could do with homing into our strengths, it opened the game up a little bit,” said junior forward Kyra Wood about the some of the first quarter struggles.

The Orange were fueled coming out of the timeout with an 8-0 run that propelled the offense into a new gear. Rice’s layup with 11 seconds left in the first quarter gave Syracuse momentum going into the second, where it started by scoring six unanswered points. Even as the Leopards tried to fight back, the Orange found their rhythm, producing three layups just 26 seconds apart.

Defense was the best offense tonight for Syracuse as it did not allow Lafayette to score in the final 3:46 of the second quarter. The Orange locked down and did not allow the Leopards to gain offensive momentum.

Syracuse started the second half like it ended the first: with eight consecutive points and shutdown defense. As time went on, the lead for the Orange continued to grow courtesy of significantly outrebounding the Leopards. SU outrebounded the visitors 58-27.

Still, while stats told one story, the coaches saw another.

“We’re not boxing out, we’re trying to outjump small kids,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “We don’t want to outjump them, we need to show them we can master the rebounding. We have to get to those blocks and lock in, bend your knees, and plunge forward to get those rebounds.”

The offense wasn’t done yet as Fair continued to knock down shots, and Legette-Jack started to go deeper into her bench as sophomore guard Kennedi Perkins sunk a pair of shots in the final minutes of the third quarter.

“It’s our family versus their team,” said Legette-Jack on so many players getting on the score sheet. “Anybody can become [a part of it].”

Wood posted a layup just under two minutes into the fourth quarter, and as the quarter wound down, Syracuse called off the dogs and continued to give minutes to players in reserve roles.

Latham’s double-double etched her in the history books as the first player to record one in their collegiate debut since the 2017-18 season opener. The game was also the first time since 2021 that three players posted a double-double in the same match. Latham contributed 15 points and 10 rebounds.

“It felt great just being able to do a lot of things and not limiting myself to only one thing,” said Latham. “Whatever my team needs me to do, I’m going to go do it to the best of my ability.”

Syracuse is back in action Friday night when it hosts Central Connecticut State at the JMA Wireless Dome. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.