Syracuse Women's Basketball vs Wake Forest Preview
Syracuse is undefeated at home in the Dome and starts conference play on Sunday, December 18th against Wake Forest.
After an impressive game against Wagner, Dariauna Lewis gave some insight into the team’s mentality heading into another home game.
“Protect the home court is just something that everyone loves to do. We don't want to lose here, we don't want to lose at all, but really protect the home court is like the main goal,” Lewis said.
Majority of this new team, including Coach Felisha Legette-Jack, has never played against ACC teams, which has had them preparing for these stronger matchups all season long.
“We're going to try to do our same thing, but they're bigger, stronger. We're still faster I think than a lot of teams in our conference, but it’s a new season, it’s zero - zero right now,” Coach Jack said.
Lewis said that the Orange are making sure that they are staying mentally tough as well with new teams on the horizon, making sure that they can stay consistent in their game plan.
“I think it's going to be a little bit tougher, but it's not going to change what we're going to do. We're still working hard every day like we're going against people in the ACC right now. So I feel like we've just got to keep our head on strong and stay mentality ready,” Lewis said.
Wake Forest is a talented team on a five game win streak. One of their players, Jewel Spear, is shooting 43% from beyond the arc and 45% in the paint. Syracuse is preparing for this defensively, making sure they are able to shut down those attempts.
“It's going to be very important that we understand the young lady that plays for Wake Forest. She's a sensational scorer, the three ball, the mid range, the layup, she can get them all in. We're going to have to be locked in early and ready defensively,” said Coach Jack.
In preparation for their first conference game, defense has been the main priority for the Orange to ensure that this game is played at Syracuse’s pace from early on.
“We just keep working on our defense. We know that they shoot a lot of three’s, so we were working on closing out on shooters, transition defense and in transition finding our shooters,” Lewis said.
This team’s energy is one piece that makes them stand out and Coach Jack is behind the magic. In her first year as head coach for Syracuse Women’s Basketball, Coach Jack is working on creating a family within the team and making sure her players can lean on her for anything. She also instills hard work and the blue collar work ethic on the team.
“The energy that she brings makes us want to go harder. She brings a lot of energy like she's still a kid, like she's still a teenager, or she's still playing,” Lewis said.
Tip off against Wake Forest is at noon on Sunday. This will be the team’s first nationally televised game this season and can be viewed on ACC Network.
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