Syracuse Putting Nation on Notice Following Win Over Alabama
Heading into the inaugural ACC/SEC Challenge, the Syracuse Women’s Basketball program received votes in the polls for the first time in Felisha Legette-Jack’s era. Thursday night proved to be another chance for Cuse to show that they deserve national recognition against an Alabama program that also cracked the polls after a 7-1 start to the season.
Following SU’s 79-73 victory over Bama making it 22 consecutive non-conference wins inside the JMA Wireless Dome, coach Legette-Jack had a mic-drop moment postgame.
“I think it all makes sense for us to be where we are right now," Legette-Jack said. "There still is a long way to go… but our story is so significant. We want the world to know about Syracuse Women’s Basketball, and we're not there yet because I think they gave us a couple of votes in the Top 25 poll. We’re coming."
Syracuse led for nearly 34 minutes of the contest and outlasted a last-chance Alabama run late in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to two. Leading the way for SU was freshman forward Alyssa Latham, leading all scorers with 23 points while grabbing 12 boards and blocking five shots. The Glenwood, Illinois native posted her third double-double of the season and first since November 10th against Central Connecticut State.
“[Alyssa] knows that in order for us to have success she has to work hard," Legette-Jack said. "I'm just so grateful that this young lady chose us for one, but second, when she goes out there and plays free and understands that mistakes are a part of the game."
Latham bounced back from her difficult stretch at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas last week. After having just four points against Iowa State and 13 in the tournament, Latham was determined to return to form.
“Those couple of games I played bad," Latham said. "My sisters needed me, and I wasn’t there. I felt like I just needed to be there for my sisters so we can go tell our story."
Latham made the first Orange bucket 3:14 into regulation, beginning a 9-3 run heading into the first media timeout. Dyaisha Fair and Kyra Wood were the only other Cuse players to register a point in the opening quarter to take a 16-13 lead. The SU offense still heavily relied upon Fair and Latham for the remainder of the half, as the duo combined for 29 of the team’s 35 points.
In the second half, players like Georgia Woolley and Izabel Varejao started getting more involved for Cuse. Woolley, who missed the beginning of the season due to injury, played her first game of the season at home after lighting it up in her previous three games averaging 15.7 points per game.
“Tonight was great," Woolley said. "I was warming up today, and I was like, this is my first game back in the dome, and there’s nothing like it. So it was really special to be out there, and to be out there and get a win like that was really nice."
Syracuse had an injury scare midway through the quarter as Fair needed to be helped off the court with an apparent left knee injury. Tied at 45 and without their star player, the Orange managed to go on a 10-0 run during Fair’s absence to regain the lead.
"I think that anytime a player like Dyaisha goes down we have to rally together," Woolley said. "If Dyaisha was on right now, what would we be doing? We can’t let her not being on the court affect us negatively, so we came together, and we had to grow. I think that’s what we did because you do it for your sisters."
Fair checked back in at the start of the fourth quarter and scored six of her 20 points in crunch time. Alabama crept back into the game with big buckets from senior Aaliyah Nye and reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Essence Cody. The Crimson Tide made it a 69-67 game before Latham’s converted and-1 to push the lead to five.
Cuse made things interesting with costly turnovers against Bama’s fullcourt press defense. The Orange had just five turnovers last time out versus Iowa State but committed a season-high 24 on Thursday. Alabama got back into the game, scoring 23 of 25 points off turnovers in the second half.
“They came out aggressive just like how we did and they wanted to win," Wood said. "We just needed to finish the day, but I don’t think it was necessarily anything they did with the press."
Fair sealed the game with two free throws in the final 30 seconds to secure the statement win. The fifth-year guard also finished with seven rebounds and a team-high seven assists. Wood had her second-straight double-double performance with 10 points and 13 rebounds off the bench. Woolley put up 10 points in an off-shooting night, going 4-16 from the field and 0-6 from three with five assists.
Now sitting at 6-1 on the campaign, Syracuse remains confident but doesn’t want to get ahead of themselves. Coach Legette-Jack realizes that because it’s a young group of players, looking too far out into what conference play might look like would be doing her team a disservice.
“We can't think about ACC games and us competing against them right now," Legette-Jack said. "We have to stay true to what's in front of us right now, and that is a hungry Northeastern team."
SU hosts Northeastern on Monday, December 4th at the JMA Wireless Dome. The Huskies are 4-3 this year and have lost their last two games against Columbia and New Hampshire. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.
