Syracuse Women's Basketball Ready to 'Shock the World'
Syracuse women's basketball lost its regular season finale in a heartbreaker at NC State. The Orange controlled much of the action and played very well in the overtime period, but struggled to find the bottom of the net despite open looks down the stretch. Despite that, it was a historic regular season for this squad. The 23 wins tied for the most in program history. Felisha Legette-Jack was named ACC Coach of the Year. Dyaisha Fair eclipsed 3,000 points, moved into the top five on the NCAA's all-time scoring list and was named to the All-ACC First Team. Freshman forward Alyssa Latham was named to the All-ACC Freshman Team.
"It was really emotional," Latham said of the loss to the Wolfpack. "We just came into this game with the mindset, with the grit, with the passion. It's when you go out there, really pour your heart out and really try your best, if it comes out not the way you wanted, it hits hard. At the end of the day, it's not a loss. It's a learning lesson. We will learn from it and continue from there."
Continue they will by facing a talented Florida State team in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals. Syracuse beat the Seminoles earlier this season in the JMA Wireless Dome 79-73. In that game, however, the Orange fell behind by double digits before dominating the fourth quarter to earn the victory.
The mentality going into this game, and postseason play in general, is focusing on the details. Something the team has worked on in every practice since the NC State loss.
"Whatever it takes," Latham said. "We have to do whatever it takes for us to win. We're a great team and we can make a pretty far run. We just have to do all of those extra and little things that matter. It's going to effect us. We have to get to our spots quicker, set good screens. Just focus on the little things. Once we get those things together and we keep doing whatever it takes, we'll be alright."
Syracuse has played with a high basketball IQ all season and shown it learns from setbacks. The Orange has only lost two in a row once all season and has performed better the second time it has faced an opponent.
"We learn quickly," Lexi McNabb said. "We talk about it in film, we're going over it every single day in practice. We're going to be ready and be even better than we were the last time. We're coming for this tournament, we're coming for the NCAA's. This is definitely not what people expected from Syracuse but we're ready to shock the world."
If Syracuse can beat Florida State, the Orange would face the winner of NC State vs Duke in the ACC Tournament semifinals with a berth in the conference championship game on the line.
