Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

On Thursday, Syracuse notched its first Quad 2 win of the season, defeating Virginia Tech on the road 93-87. Sophie Burrows continued her recent hot streak, drilling eight 3s en route to a career-high 28 points.

This further secured the Orange’s position in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, as they entered their matchup with Wake Forest Sunday a full game ahead of Pitt for the final spot. SU’s bout with the Demon Deacons gave it another chance to notch a crucial ACC victory. WF is the worst team in the conference, starting ACC play a miserable 1-10.

Syracuse took advantage of the lesser competition Sunday. Wake Forest exploded to a 25-13 lead midway through the second. But the Orange mounted a second-half comeback, only recording two second-half turnovers after 11 in the first. This puts SU in a better position to reach the conference tournament with six games left.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast) 62-50 victory over Wake Forest (8-15, 1-11 Atlantic Coast):

Burrows gets limited

Burrows has been Syracuse’s most consistent shooter as of late. Her near-unconscious performance versus the Hokies broke a career-high in points she’d set just four days earlier against Virginia. She’s scored 15 or more points in five of SU’s last six games.

Versus the Demon Deacons, she was inconsistent.

Burrows immediately tried a 3 on SU’s first possession, but the attempt rimmed out. She then shorted a contested layup. Through one quarter, those were the only two shots she attempted, finishing scoreless.

The Australian finally got on the board at the 8:17 mark of the second quarter, hitting a driving layup. She then drilled her first triple with three minutes remaining in the first half after missing her first two from distance. Still, she finished with just seven points at halftime.

At first, she looked to be carrying her momentum into the second half, draining a deep 2 off an inbounds pass. However, she badly missed two straight looks from beyond the arc, clanging the ball off the front rim both times. Though Burrows recorded 15 points, 10 rebounds and five steals versus the Demon Deacons, she was inconsistent from the field, keeping the game close down the stretch.

SU exposed in the paint

It was clear early what Wake Forest’s strategy was — attack the paint. The Demon Deacons consistently passed the ball under the rim, usually leading to uncontested layups. First, Demeara Hinds worked inside and drilled a layup for WF’s first bucket of the game.

With the game tied 9-9, Wake Forest went on an 8-0 run, propelled by four straight buckets in the paint, two by Rylie Theuerkauf, WF’s second-leading scorer at 11.0 points per game.

To begin the second quarter, Hinds put up two more layups, pushing her to 12 points — all under the rim. At the half, 22 of the Demon Deacons’ 31 points occurred in the paint, only hitting three triples.

In the second, nothing immediately changed. Hinds and Malaya Cowles opened the third with two more layups. Then, Theuerkauf was left wide open for a layup to end the third after Syracuse pressed heavily off a WF defensive rebound, pushing the score to 41-39. From there, the Orange were stronger defending the paint, holding Hinds to just two second-half points, yet still allowed 36 points in the area overall.

Cleaning up turnovers

Syracuse played relatively clean for the first five minutes, allowing it to keep the game tied 9-9. However, the Orange got careless. On the Demon Deacons’ 8-0 run toward the end of the quarter, SU racked up four turnovers.

First, Saniaa Wilson was subbed in and immediately coughed the ball up to Elise Williams. Her giveaway was followed by turnovers from Burrows, Journey Thompson and Angelica Velez. Syracuse had already totaled seven in the first quarter.

From there, Syracuse played cleaner basketball, allowing it to cut into Wake Forest’s advantage. It didn’t record a turnover until SU threw an inbounds pass out of play with two minutes left in the first half, finishing with 11.

This trend continued into the second, with the Orange forcing Wake Forest into its own mistakes while taking care of the ball. Syracuse only recorded two giveaways in the second half, allowing it to make the game close down the stretch and eventually win.

Orange slack on the boards

Wake Forest has a litany of issues. Rebounding stands out among them all. The Demon Deacons are in the bottom 20 in the country with 30.9 total rebounds per game and a measly 8.0 offensive boards per game, per HerHoopStats.

With Syracuse ranking 14th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (15.4), this looked to be an area it could exploit to snag another win. However, Wake Forest got its way on the boards early, snagging five of the first seven rebounds.

The Orange continued to slack on the boards, cutting their possessions short and fueling WF’s 31-26 halftime lead. Though the Demon Deacons led 16-15 in rebounding at the break, this wasn’t ideal considering the two squads’ reputations on the glass.

The Demon Deacons continued to shine in rebounding after the break, snagging an offensive board after a Theuerkauf missed layup. Then, Wood misfired a contested floater and failed to corral her own rebound. Though Syracuse claimed the victory in the end, it only won the rebound battle 37-33, seriously hurting it in the close contest.

Published on February 9, 2025 at 4:13 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99