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Prior to Sunday’s game, Christianna Carr accepted a ball in honor of her 1,000th career point recorded in Syracuse’s upset victory over No. 18 Ohio State, a foreshadowing of an afternoon of individual and team milestones the Orange were set to achieve.

Najé Murray recorded her 1,000th point, Teisha Hyman recorded the program’s fifth-ever triple-double and Syracuse entered halftime up 65-29 — setting a program record for points scored in a single half – and scored a record-breaking 116 points.

Here are observations from Syracuse’s (5-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) blowout win over Central Connecticut State (1-5):

Consistency from deep

Chrislyn Carr sent Syracuse into halftime up 65-29. Her team-leading 17th point of the game was a buzzer-beating 3-pointer, posted up, unmarked, in her signature position along the left side of the arc. Not only did Chrislyn’s 3 set the program’s record for points scored in a single half, but it also cemented another successful string of 3s for the Orange, who shot 7-for-13 in the first two quarters.

Acting head coach Vonn Read has changed Syracuse’s offensive system to a 5-out motion offense, which revolves around its players moving freely along the perimeter of the arc. Against Central Connecticut State, the Orange showed a varying degree of shots through its buildup but still found success in its reliable “kick-out” passing tactic to the wings. Eight of Syracuse’s 10 3-pointers came from the wings, four from each wing.

Hard in the paint

Najé Murray’s 1,000th career point couldn’t have been easier. Murray was left all alone within the paint, below the free-throw line, to sink her 10th point of the game. Twenty seconds later, she finished a near-identical shot. Hyman created both plays and assisted Murray in ensuing offensive rebounds and steals. Hyman recorded another steal ten seconds later in the paint and generated a quick give-and-go with Murray to sink a layup of her own.

Syracuse relied less on its kick-out passes beyond the arc and instead drove straight into the Central Connecticut State defense. This would lead to either a quick bounce pass that was followed up by a close-range layup or a quick 2-point jumper where the Orange would bypass the passing option entirely.

With six minutes remaining in the second quarter, Chrislyn cut inside the top of the arc and attempted a 2-point jumper that hit the outside of the rim. Alaina Rice rushed below the hoop and picked up the rebound, fighting off her defender to sink the layup.

Size is still an issue

Ashley Berube scored 10 of Central Connecticut State’s first 13 points. Each of them came within the paint as she went 5-for-7 within the first five minutes of the game, with the Orange up by just four points. SU then went on an 11-0 run to finish the quarter. Syracuse made it difficult for 6-foot-2 Berube to sink the easy layups she had had throughout the early stages of the game.

Syracuse at times had to triple-team Berube, which led to shot-clock violations or costly turnovers in the offensive zone for the Blue Devils. But Berube is a true center which Syracuse doesn’t have and struggled early because of this. But Syracuse only allowed five more points throughout the game’s next 10 minutes and began a slurry of its own defensive rebounds and blocks — three of them coming in the opening quarter.

Short bench? No problem.

Syracuse dressed just eight players for the second consecutive game, with each of them seeing action by the end of the opening quarter. Its starting five hasn’t changed all season, but the Orange’s depth off the bench was the biggest question after a winless trip at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, where it accumulated significant minor injuries in Jayla Thornton and Eboni Walker.

But being able to rely on notable bench players such as Alaina Rice, who scored 13 points and recorded seven rebounds off the bench, was a key factor toward the Orange’s success within the paint. Freshman Nyah Wilson also recorded at least 12 minutes for the fourth time this season.

Acting head coach Vonn Read admitted to the team’s inability to play a complete game during its three-game stint in the Bahamas, something he’s been challenging his team to do upon their return.

“In the Bahamas that was something that we were missing,” Read said. “We were playing three good quarters then we’d have a bad quarter and we couldn’t recover.”

Chemistry is settling upon a once unfamiliar group of players and the team has proven it can once again go the distance and play four complete quarters of basketball in its third consecutive win of the season.

Published on December 5, 2021 at 3:51 pm

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu