Shorthanded SU Women’s Basketball Overcomes Double-Digit Deficit to Beat Cornell

As finals week concluded on Monday, Syracuse women’s basketball passed a tougher-than-expected test against the Cornell Big Red at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The Orange (9-1) overcame a 14-point halftime deficit, prevailing 78-71 over their in-state rivals from Ithaca despite only dressing nine players for the game.

“We really had to fight,” Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “(Cornell) was not going to give it to us. We had to fight for the energy.”

For the first 25 minutes of the game, Cornell was the much better team, executing its half-court offense almost flawlessly while the Orange—missing starting center Isabel Varejao and freshman guard Sophie Burrows—stagnated and missed open opportunities.

An eight-point halftime lead for the visitors swelled to 14 when Clarke Jackson scored to put Cornell up 50-36 with 5:12 remaining in the third quarter.

Something needed to change for the Orange.

“We got mad,” Syracuse’s Georgia Woolley said after the game. “That’s it. We got mad. We came out and refocused and locked into who we are. We lost who we are a little bit, and once we did that, we were good.”

“It was really us figuring out ‘who is Syracuse women’s basketball?’” freshman forward Alyssa Latham said. “That first half, that was not us. It was really us just digging and focusing on that and playing Syracuse women’s basketball.”

Syracuse got the momentum it desperately needed, cutting the deficit to 54-49 by the end of the third quarter.

Some well-timed baskets from the Big Red kept the Orange at bay, with Clarke Jackson converting an easy layup to put the visitors up 63-57 with 6:13 remaining.

But Syracuse kept coming, using full-court pressure to force the Big Red into a few untimely turnovers. Two free throws from Dyaisha Fair brought the Orange to within 63-62 with just over four minutes remaining.

After another Big Red turnover against the press, Fair struck from deep to cap an 8-0 run and give SU a 65-63 lead—its first advantage since the first quarter.

The Big Red regained the lead at 67-66 with 2:48 remaining, but a key three from Alaina Rice put Syracuse back in front seconds later.

After Fair rebounded her own missed three on Syracuse’s next trip, Georgia Woolley applied the early dagger, nailing a triple from the wing to give the Orange a 72-67 lead with 1:56 remaining.

Two foul shots from Fair off another Cornell turnover made it 74-67 with 1:09 left.

After struggling on the boards for much of the game, Syracuse totaled 14 second-chance points in the final frame, which were crucial in keying the comeback.

Seven fourth-quarter turnovers—which turned into 11 Syracuse points—proved to be damning for the Big Red, who lacked composure once the Orange began heavily pressing.

Without Varejao and Burrows, and with forward Saniaa Wilson saddled with foul trouble, Legette-Jack didn’t have many options off the bench.

With key secondary contributors out of the lineup, it was no surprise that the Orange leaned on the experienced duo of Fair and Woolley for the bulk of their scoring output.

Fair overcame a slow start to lead the Orange with 24 points, despite shooting just 3-for-13 from the floor. She repeatedly drew fouls and lived at the free-throw line, making 16-of-18 attempts from the charity stripe.

Woolley had 23 points on 8-for-18 shooting from the floor and a 4-for-7 mark from 3-point range in 39 minutes of action.

Other usual starters Rice and Alyssa Latham, had eight and nine points respectively while spending nearly all the game on the floor.

The Orange finished the game shooting 40 percent from the floor and 7-of-21 from three.

Syracuse returns to action for a 10:30 a.m. tip-off against Saint Francis on Thursday to close its non-conference schedule. A win in that one would send the Orange into conference play with a 10-1 record.