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A game where a team leads for the final 33 minutes and 50 seconds should be a comfortable victory. At times on Thursday, Syracuse looked as if it would pull away from Alabama until it started turning the ball over. The Orange nearly threw the game away, literally and figuratively.

With 3:24 left in the fourth quarter, Dyaisha Fair scored a bucket in transition, putting Syracuse up 69-59, forcing a timeout from Alabama. The game looked to be over until it wasn’t. Turnovers on three straight possessions due to the Crimson Tide’s press helped them cut the lead to five. A full-court pass then found Fair to break the press, but she got caught in a trap in the corner, coughing the ball up. Aaliyah Nye then knocked down a 3-point shot, cutting Syracuse’s lead to 69-67 with two minutes left.

“That’s something we have to get better at,” Georgia Woolley said. “24 is way too much… but I think we’re gonna take that and learn from it. That’s something that we can improve on moving forward.”

Despite a season-high 24 turnovers, Syracuse survived, defeating Alabama 79-73. The Orange were befuddled by the Crimson Tide’s full-court press, gifting them with easy buckets on the other end. Many of Syracuse’s turnovers came in live ball situations, allowing Alabama to score 25 points off the Orange’s giveaways. Despite a career performance, freshman Alyssa Latham turned the ball over six times. Woolley equaled Latham’s total and Fair added five of her own. Despite Syracuse’s inability to take care of the ball, the Orange weathered every storm Alabama brought, holding on for its third straight victory.

Syracuse’s sloppy play and nonchalant passes nearly cost it Thursday even though it led for the majority of the game. After going the first three minutes without a score, the Orange gained an offensive rhythm, causing the Crimson Tide to implement a full-court press.

The Orange struggled mightily against Alabama’s press. Woolley drew a charge in the lane with Syracuse leading 12-9 in the first quarter. On the ensuing inbound play, Alabama set up in a full-court press.

Latham found a soft spot at midcourt, receiving the ball, before pivoting towards Alabama’s basket. Izabel Varejão flashed to the free throws line, but Latham’s pass went over her head and out of bounds. It was a sign of things to come for Syracuse down the stretch.

A couple more times in the first half Latham aimlessly threw the ball high, looking for fellow forward Kyra Wood.

“They just came out aggressive,” Wood said postgame.

Alabama started the game playing aggressively on defense, extending pressure in the halfcourt and forcing Fair and Woolley into tough contested looks. The Crimson Tide came in with the 11th-ranked defense in the country, allowing just 50 points per game while forcing 22 turnovers per game.

Syracuse entered Thursday averaging just 13 turnovers per game. In SU’s past two games at the South Point Shootout in Las Vegas, the Orange committed 15 turnovers. The only time this season Syracuse has had issues holding onto the ball was against then No. 20 Maryland on Nov. 19, registering a then-season-high 18. Against the Terrapins, the Orange had a chance to win down by two with the ball, but Alaina Rice coughed it up in the final seconds.

Outside of Syracuse’s only loss, turnovers haven’t come back to bite the Orange because they’ve built big enough cushions. Playing against a Power Five team in Alabama, who came in as one of the best defenses in the country, left less room for mistakes.

Despite seven first quarter turnovers, Syracuse rebounded in the first four minutes of the second, turning the ball over once, helping it build a 14-point lead. But two careless turnovers from Latham and one from Fair helped the Crimson Tide creep back into the game, cutting Syracuse’s lead to 35-29 at the half.

Wood said SU expected Alabama to press them and they weren’t caught off guard by anything they did.

Originally to break the press, Syracuse looked to give Latham the ball in the middle, but her sloppy play led to a more guard-heavy approach with Woolley, Fair and Rice. The trio patiently moved the ball up the floor with crosscourt passes.

The turnovers slowed in the third quarter, but Alabama stormed back. Down two, Nye stuck tightly to Woolley before poking the ball away and then drawing a foul. Sarah Ashlee Barker tied the game at 45. With the game tied, Fair had to be carried off the floor by her teammates due to a leg injury.

With their best ball-handler off the floor, Syracuse responded with a 10-0 run, without turning the ball over. But at the end of the quarter the giveaways started again. Rice was called for an offensive foul after pushing off along the sideline. Then Woolley gave the ball away, allowing Alabama to cut the lead to five.

Fair returned in the fourth quarter as the Orange built their lead back up. The point guard finished with 20 points, including four threes in the first half.

After Fair returned from injury, she acted as a decoy. With Alabama double-teaming her every time she got the ball in the backcourt, Fair often went long as if she was a wide receiver going out for a pass.

She used the attention to try and alleviate some of the pressure of Rice and Woolley. Fair did come back and receive the ball a couple times before sprinting upcourt and splitting incoming double teams from Alabama to initiate the offense.

Fair’s turnover with just over two minutes left as Alabama cut the lead to two was Syracuse’s last. The Orange held strong, using a 9-4 spurt to hold on for its biggest win of the season. As Syracuse gets deeper into nonconference and ACC play, Latham emphasized that the Orange need to stay calm, especially at the end of games.

“I feel like in this game we learned how to stay poised and to be patient,” Latham said. “It’s going to help us when we get to ACC play and not get sped up, … we need to stay poised the whole game, that’s going to continue to serve us well.”

Published on November 30, 2023 at 11:24 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22