Syracuse Women’s Basketball Continues Road Trip For South Point Thanksgiving Shootout
By Carson Fowler | @CarsonFowlerTV
In a two-point loss to 20th-ranked Maryland Sunday, the first thing Coach Jack said after the game was, “I love my team.”
“I love the fight that we [Syracuse] came here with, love the desire we came with, love the passion, the discipline, the integrity,” Jack added.
Despite the loss, lots of good takeaways from this game. Georgia Woolley made her return to the team. Woolley finished the game with a team-high 21 points, eight rebounds, and two steals. Syracuse proved it could hang with a top-25 team in a hostile road environment (Xfinity Center). Plus, seven Orange players had a field goal or more, and five of those players ended the game with double figures.
Fouls and turnovers killed the Orange against the Terps. Going into this game, SU ranked number one in the NCAA in fouls per game (8.0) and near dead last in the ACC in turnovers (14.7). At Maryland, Syracuse committed 22 personal fouls and 18 turnovers that turned into 22 made free throws and 23 points off those turnovers for Maryland. Alyssa Latham played only 17 minutes after she picked up her 3rd and 4th fouls early in the third quarter. Izabel Varejão fouled out at the two-minute mark in the 4th quarter, which forced Coach Jack to play without her starting center and primary rim protector down the stretch. Up to that point, Varejão had been a pivotal part of the game for the Orange, notching 12 points, five rebounds, and three blocks.
SU, 3-1 after four games, heads to Las Vegas, NV, this week for the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout. Four teams were invited to this in-season “shootout”: Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Northern Iowa, and Iowa State.
Syracuse will face two of these three teams. SU is scheduled to play Northern Iowa (1-2) Friday, Nov. 24, at 2 PM and Iowa State (2-1) Saturday, Nov. 25, at 2 PM. SU’s pace of play will be a great advantage in these games. Northern Iowa (65 PPG) and Iowa State (77 PPG) like to play a bit slower, both teams want to slow the game down and set up their offense. Where Syracuse likes to speed up its opponents, force turnovers, and score in transition.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Northern Iowa’s leading scorer and rebounder is Grace Boffeli, who averages 16.3 points and eight boards per game. The Panthers also get 10 points from Shateah Wetering and 9.5 points and 4.5 assists per game from Maya McDermott. McDermott hits the three-ball at a nearly 56% clip, something to look out for in this game.
Iowa State’s leading scorer is freshman center Audi Crooks, who scores almost 16 points and five rebounds per game. The Cyclones play an eight-person rotation, so the scoring comes from everywhere. Forwards Addy Brown and Nyamer Diew both add more than 12 points per game; Brown also leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 per game. Iowa State’s two starting guards, Hannah Belanger and Kelsey Joens, are lethal shooters, 47.1% and 45.0% from behind the arc.
