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At halftime, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said defense was key for the second half.

The Orange had just given up a 9-0 run to Boston College to close the half, seeing their 37-25 lead shorten to 37-34 at the midway point.

But in the opening minute of the third quarter, the Orange forced turnovers and Dyaisha Fair led the transition offense. She slowed down near the top right of the key, waiting for Alaina Rice to overlap on the right wing. Fair dished it to Rice, who drained the 3 from the right wing. It was in the middle of a 15-3 third-quarter run out of the break that catalyzed Syracuse’s 83-73 win over Boston College.

The Orange (13-4, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) escaped Chestnut Hill with a win over Boston College (13-6, 3-3 ACC), securing their third-straight win and second conference win in a row. Despite a combined 44 turnovers in the game, the Orange locked up early in the third quarter, and relied upon five double-digit scorers to lift themselves past the Eagles, who managed to cut a 15-point deficit to as low as three.

In the first quarter, both teams combined for 13 turnovers. Bad passes — including a completely off-target inbound pass by Teisha Hyman — and dribbling too much plagued both sides as they traded off buckets in transition. Rice had a free-throw line jumper, going coast-to-coast off an Eagles turnover. On SU’s next basket, Georgia Woolley dished the ball off to Rice for a layup on a 2-on-1 fast-break to put the Orange up 10-8. Rice, who tied her career high with 17 points, contributed to the Orange’s bench production that outscored BC’s 26-8.

But Boston College capitalized on the Orange’s mistakes, too. Fair passed the ball to Asia Strong, who didn’t notice an Eagle defender behind her and lost possession before ultimately conceding a fast-break layup. In the second quarter, Lewis tried to pass the ball down low to Strong, but it was intercepted.

Syracuse gained the lead at the 4:14 mark of the first quarter and never developed a margin of more than five, not until Fair drained a 3 from the right wing. The Orange went up 32-25 heading into the media timeout. And on the other side of the timeout, Hyman went on a personal 5-0 run — a deep two and a left-wing 3-pointer — to extend SU’s lead to 12.

That lead would be short-lived as Fair picked up her second foul when pressing on Boston College, forcing Legette-Jack to bring in Cheyenne McEvans in Fair’s place. Taina Mair scored two jumpers, Andrea Dailey went 1-of-2 on the line before securing the offensive board and follow-up layup and Maria Gakdeng scored downlow as the lead dwindled.

During the run in the final four minutes, Hyman picked up three fouls, two of which happened in a span of 15 seconds. Without Fair, the Orange looked different and unorganized, though still holding a 37-34 halftime lead.

“We were reacting instead of dictating,” Legette-Jack said on the broadcast at halftime, emphasizing the defense was the main key for the second half.

Despite the combined 26 first-half turnovers (13 for each team), both teams were efficient when they were able to get shots off, converting shots at over a 45% clip in the first half. Rice and Fair both had nine points while Hyman and Lewis added eight and seven, respectively. Lewis knocked down a couple baseline jumpers and worked her way down low, taking advantage of her five offensive rebounds.

Fair found Woolley, who cut back-door, but she missed the left-handed layup. But Lewis was there for the easy putback for the Orange’s first points in the second half in an eventual 15-3 run to start the third period that included SU’s largest lead of the night. Lewis, who finished with 11 points, hit a baseline jumper from the left side.

In SU’s last outing against Clemson, the Orange went on a 24-1 run, spanning from the end of the second quarter through the first part of the third to provide just enough of a cushion to fend off the Tigers’ comeback.

The Orange’s 3-point shooting has never been their strong suit, entering the contest 218th of 361 Division-I teams from deep, per Her Hoop Stats. But SU finished 8-of-16 from deep, receiving triples from Fair, Rice and Strong during the run — all with Hyman on the bench in foul trouble. And once Hyman returned to the game, she drained a 3 from the top of the key, ending the Eagles’ momentum they had developed after halving the deficit to seven — one that would be 11 to start the fourth quarter.

But similar to SU’s blown fourth-quarter lead against NC State on Jan. 1, Boston College went on an 11-2 run, cutting the Syracuse lead to 65-61. Hyman gave the Eagles a free possession and two free throws after receiving a technical foul  — and her fourth personal foul. Dailey euro-stepped down the lane and JoJo Lacey drained a 3.

However, just like Clemson and unlike NC State, BC couldn’t complete the comeback on its home floor. Woolley and Strong scored two layups with just under a minute on the shot clock with a few minutes left and Fair and Woolley added pairs from the charity stripe — the Orange went 21-of-26 — to get the lead back to nine with under a minute to go. Boston College continued to foul, but SU made their free throws to secure its fourth ACC win, the same number it had all last season.

Published on January 12, 2023 at 9:32 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini