A week ago, Gabrielle Cooper sat at the podium with a dejected look on her face following an 18-point loss to Georgia Tech at the Carrier Dome. Cooper, a four-year starter who has missed one game in her SU career, called the loss one of the “worst games that I’ve played in since I’ve been here.”

On Thursday night, less than 30 minutes after the final buzzer sounded in a 30-point blowout defeat to Duke, Cooper again sat facing the media. Just as she did last week, the plain-faced senior bashed the Orange’s failures.

“We’re not guarding the ball, we’re not boxing out, they’re getting second-chance points, they were getting way too many fast break points,” Cooper said. “We weren’t getting back in defensive transition. So, they were just picking us apart in those ways. They were just running on us.”

Those issues and more doomed Syracuse (9-9, 3-4 Atlantic Coast) in a disastrous first half and a second half that was only marginally better. The Blue Devils (10-9, 4-4) were able to break down SU’s full and half-court defense with ease while the Orange looked lost trying to solve Duke’s. After the 88-58 blowout on Thursday night in the Carrier Dome, Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman was left questioning the Orange’s competitiveness.

“We have to come out here and make the decision if we’re going to compete at a high level or if we’re not,” Hillsman said. “Are we going to come back out and play urgent, play hard? Or are we going to let this game drag into another game?”

Syracuse typically finds a way to win at home, whether that be a 34-point drubbing over UMBC or a fourth-quarter comeback and buzzer-beating overtime win against then-No. 8 Florida State. That wasn’t the case Thursday.

It took a minute and 11 seconds into Thursday night’s game for things to start going wrong. SU failed to close down sharpshooter Haley Gorecki, who was left with several feet of space to fire from 3-point range. She missed, but Hillsman called a timeout anyways. Under no circumstances was Gorecki — who averages a team-best 17.8 points per game — to get that kind of space.

“We talked about that for two days,” Hillsman said. “You can’t stand in front of this kid with your hands down.”

Of the Orange’s many sloppy starts to games this season, Thursday night was one of their worst. Syracuse committed eight turnovers in the first quarter, which Duke turned into 12 points. After missed shots, SU was regularly beaten down the floor where the Blue Devils converted wide-open layups. The visitors’ tenacious perimeter defense forced point guard Kiara Lewis and others into risky passes and heavily-contested shots.

Duke was its relentless pressure on Lewis. The Blue Devils’ Kyra Lambert picked up SU’s point guard for the full length of the court on most possessions, bumping and poking at her. Twice in the first half, the ball was back in Duke’s possession just moments after a SU inbound because Lewis coughed it up.

“(Kiara’s) their leading scorer, leading assist-maker. Just has done great things,” Duke head coach Joanne McCallie said.” Keeping her in front was important. She can create off the bounce. I thought everyone had a part in that.”

On some possessions in the half-court, two Blue Devils defenders harassed Lewis to keep her from making a simple pass or shot. All five of Duke’s players had constant active feet and hands, and the Orange couldn’t find a way around them. The Orange committed more turnovers (12) than made field goals (11) in the first half. By halftime, the deficit was 21, SU’s largest of the season after two quarters.

In the first possession of the second quarter, Lewis drove to the basket, was swarmed by three Duke defenders and dribbled it off her knee and out of bounds. On the ensuing inbound, the Orange imposed their full-court press, but Lambert heaved it down the court to a wide-open Leaonna Odom for a lay-in — two of the Blue Devils’ 14 fast-break points in the first half.

Syracuse began to figure out Duke’s defense in the third quarter, but couldn’t halt the visitors on the other end. Every time the Orange scored, the Carrier Dome crowd cheered in hopes of a miraculous comeback, only to be silenced moments later by another Blue Devils bucket. By the end of the third, SU trailed 71-48, already allowing more than its season average against per game (67.4).

“They were scoring way too easily,” Cooper said. “46 points in the paint is ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. We can’t win that way.”

Syracuse fans’ optimistic third-quarter cheers turned to faint claps by the fourth as the home team’s chance at a comeback withered away. The loudest the home crowd got in the final quarter was when the Syracuse band played “Sweet Caroline,” during a timeout.

Every year since 2013 the Orange have made the NCAA tournament. With 12 games remaining, a .500 record overall and a sub-.500 record in the ACC, SU’s chances are in jeopardy. It will need a winning streak Syracuse has yet to prove it is capable of to land in the 64-team field.

When asked if SU is a tournament team, Hillsman replied: “Of course.”

“If we win the next 12, what’s the record then?” Hillsman said. “We have an opportunity to win every game.”

Published on January 23, 2020 at 10:15 pm

Contact David: ddschnei@syr.edu