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Felisha Legette-Jack said the quiet part out loud following Syracuse’s 78-65 blowout loss to Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament quarterfinals.

“We’ve got to figure out how to play on this stage,” she said postgame. “Everyone says this, we’re way better than this. I want to add to that list of people who say the same thing.”

The second-year head coach is right. Syracuse is better than its one-and-done performance in Greensboro, North Carolina. SU wasn’t the No. 3 seed by accident, but in a game which it never led and trailed by as much as 27 in the fourth quarter, the Orange displayed underlying issues which have plagued them all year.

Just because Syracuse had a successful regular season doesn’t mean that will translate into a deep NCAA Tournament run.

This season, Syracuse constantly proved its doubters wrong. The Orange were picked to finish ninth in the preseason ACC poll, but earned a double-bye in the conference tournament for the first time since 2015-16 and tied a program record for regular-season wins (23). But all the regular-season accolades can be thrown out the window in March. Syracuse displays an unsustainable brand of basketball. Its overreliance on Dyaisha Fair — despite Fair’s greatness — and lackadaisical starts to games will lead to an early exit in the NCAA Tournament.

At one point this season, Syracuse was projected to host a first and second round game and looked to be a potential threat to win the ACC. But the Orange dropped 2-of-3 to end the regular season before crashing out of the ACC Tournament. A four-point road loss to then-No. 12 NC State wasn’t a cause for concern, but SU’s 13-point loss at home to Duke on Feb. 22 and its most recent defeat to FSU were.

Against the Blue Devils, the Orange scored a season-low 45 points. It’s no surprise that Syracuse’s worst offensive performance coincided with one of Fair’s worst shooting displays. Fair went 7-for-25 from the field, mainly guarded by Duke’s Oluchi Okananwa, a 5-foot-10 point guard with a long wingspan. Okananwa’s size disrupted Fair, who repeatedly tried to shake free but either chucked up a contested look or passed late in the shot clock.

Dyaisha Fair is one of the best scorers in NCAA women’s basketball history with 3,351 career points. Joe Zhao | Asst. Photo Editor

It wasn’t just Fair who struggled as every other SU player combined to shoot 7-of-31 from the field. Dependence on Fair to score is nothing new for Syracuse. According to HerHoopStats, the point guard is in the 100th percentile in offensive win shares — a stat that displays a player’s offensive impact — with an offensive rating of 120.3, which is in the 98th percentile. Fair only trails Iowa’s Caitlin Clark — the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer — in total 3-pointers attempted this season and makes the third-most 3s per game (3.57).

Fair’s extremely ball-dominant play style makes the Orange too one-dimensional. She often has to create on the perimeter by herself. At times, Syracuse has placed Fair off the ball in an attempt to garner different looks. But inconsistent play from other point guards has prevented Fair from getting extended minutes at the two-guard spot.

“You don’t get to be on the court if you don’t earn it, and that’s what we’ve been dealing with,” Legette-Jack said on Feb. 28. “And as soon as those young ladies decide that they’re going to show up in practice, then they’ll show up in the game and ‘Free Dyaisha earlier.”

So with Fair carrying the burden on the offensive end, it makes Syracuse easier to game plan for — which was on full display against Florida State. In their first meeting on Jan. 18, Fair hit a program-record nine 3-pointers and SU came back from an 18-point deficit to win 79-73.

When discussing the Seminoles’ defensive scheme for the second time around, FSU head coach Brooke Wyckoff said it was simple. Run Fair off the 3-point line.

“If you get beat, that’s OK,” Wyckoff said of the Seminoles defensive tactics. “We’ll bring help (defense) and make (Fair) take a contested 2-pointer. That was the goal.”

The combination of O’Mariah Gordon, Ta’Niya Latson and Sara Bejedi kept Fair to a season-low five 3-point attempts. FSU’s three guards often funneled Fair to the ACC blocks leader Makayla Timpson in the paint. Fair’s 47% shooting performance didn’t matter.

And with a potential matchup against No. 3 seed UConn on the horizon, it doesn’t bode well for Syracuse. The Huskies are 26th in the country in points per game allowed (57) and their opponents shoot just 28.4% from 3, which ranks in the top 40.

The Orange’s only concern isn’t just the reliance on Fair. Throughout the year, one thing it’s been consistent at is starting slow. To SU’s credit, it has come back from a multitude of double-digit deficits.

Syracuse tied a program record for regular season wins with 23 under second year head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. Arnav Pokhrel | Staff Photographer

On Dec. 18, 2023, against Cornell, Syracuse trailed by 14 in the second half, but came back to win. Against Clemson on Jan. 14, SU stormed back from down 19 in the third quarter, then from 10 in the fourth quarter against Louisville on Feb. 11.

“We don’t have quit in us. No matter how much we get down…it doesn’t matter,” Fair said after defeating the Cardinals. “We have to play until the last horn sounds and you just really never know what can happen if you don’t.”

The never-say-die attitude from Syracuse is a positive. But it’s not how you consistently win games — especially in March. One bad quarter can be the difference between surviving or advancing.

The Orange never looked competitive against Florida State. A two-point deficit late in the first soon ballooned into a double-digit one at halftime. If SU puts itself under pressure like this in the NCAA Tournament, it will be sent home early. Yes, Syracuse’s experience in fighting from behind helps, but that won’t always yield positive results.

As exciting as Syracuse has been this season, led by Fair and under the tutelage of Legette-Jack, I have to bring up the old adage of “all good things must come to an end.” The regular-season success can be a building block for a potentially budding program. But based on the full body of work, Syracuse’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021 will be a brief one.

Zak Wolf is an Assistant Sports Editor at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at @zakwolf784254@gmail.com or on X @ZakWolf22.

Published on March 19, 2024 at 11:18 pm