Syracuse women’s hoops stung by No. 18 Georgia Tech, fall 65-55

Georgia Tech proved too much for the Orange (8-9, ACC 1-6) on Thursday night at the Dome. Syracuse never led in this contest and was outrebounded by an astounding 34-16 margin.

The Yellow Jackets had a massive size advantage over the Orange. GT’s four-forward offensive scheme buried SU’s smaller players, caused a substantial rebounding difference and contributes to one of the best defensive units in the country

“When we play bigger opponents, you have to rely on your speed and defense,” guard Teisha Hyman said. “You have to play big and with aggression.”

The game began with an unusual technical foul on the Orange for a LED light out in the backboard, so the score was 1-0 Georgia Tech, Yellow Jackets ball with the full clock remaining.

Syracuse got off to a tough start in the Dome, fumbling away four turnovers and missing four shots before their first successful field goal. Hyman finally broke the drought with a made jumper and the Orange quickly got to work.

The first quarter ended with poor three-point shooting, the teams combining for a meager 1-8, and SU made only one assist to Georgia Tech’s six.

“We gotta be able to drive and kick,” acting head coach Vonn Read said. “We tried to use what we have to space things out. They hold teams to 32% for a reason.”

The second frame began terribly for the Orange, who shot 0-8 to start the half and only 1-11 in the opening seven minutes. Despite this horrid start, they shot 3-5 in the final three minutes.

Alaysia Styles, led all Orange scorers with 10 at the half, their only double-digit scorer. She shot 2-3 from deep and was the only player to make any three-pointers in the first half. The remaining shooters on both teams combined went 0-13.

“I think we tried our best and that’s all you can ask, and push for every game,” Styles said.

Another key to Georgia Tech’s 35-24 halftime lead was the foul count: Syracuse committed 12 fouls to GT’s 8, but Tech shot 12 free throws (made 11) to just SU’s two (made both).

The Orange quickly built off their momentum entering the third quarter, outscoring Tech 8-5 through the first half of the quarter.

This trend continued, as Georgia Tech could not keep control of the ball, committing eight turnovers to Syracuse’s two. The foul game was also much more reigned in, as both teams committed an equal four.

For the first time, Syracuse beat Tech in a quarter, 18-13. This took the GT lead from 13 to six going into the final frame.

SU shot seven more times than Tech, making three more shots despite giving up the first Yellow Jacket three-pointer of the night.

The fourth quarter opened just like the third did: Syracuse missing shots. SU started 0-6 through the first five minutes of the quarter, mustering one point as GT only tallied six.

Tech would continue the streak, closing out the quarter shooting 46% and outrebounding the Orange 14-6.

Overall positives of the night include forcing Tech to a woeful 26 turnovers, two made three-pointers, and under 80% free-throw shooting on 22 attempts. The turnovers mainly stemmed from forcing the ball inside the paint, where Tech scored 32 of their 65 points.

“I thought we were doing what we could,” Read said. “They probably had five more turnovers just trying to get inside.”

Syracuse next travels to South Bend, Indiana, where they’ll take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish next Thursday at 6 pm.