Syracuse Women’s Basketball Collapses at Penn State in 82-69 Loss

By Jesse Cook

A 21-point lead is tough to let go, but the Syracuse women’s basketball team did exactly that in its Monday night loss at Penn St. 82-69. The Nittany Lions accomplished one of the largest comebacks in their program’s history, making it work in the second half, primarily. P.S.U. banged home 59 points, seven makes from beyond the arc, as well as 29 rebounds in the second half, alone.

Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said that the boards made the biggest difference in her squad’s loss. She said, “They got second chance opportunities. We didn’t really box out the way we needed to on defense. We gotta go after 15, 18, 19 rebounds, and we have to do that when our numbers are low. No excuses. They just outplayed us. We’re gonna get better, and there’s a lot of season left. It’s disappointing because he had such a good situation heading down the stretch, and we didn’t capitalize on it. We’ve got a lot of film to watch, for sure.”

Despite the outcome, the contest did not turn out entirely sour for the Orange. Guards Teisha Hyman and Dyaisha Fair both scored in double digits; Hyman scored 19, Fair led the Cuse with 20. Additionally, forward Dariauna Lewis nabbed an astonishing nine boards.

Aside from the usual three stars, guard Alaina Rice has also begun to emerge as bright spot on the S.U. roster. Legette-Jack said that she still has room to grow, but has stepped up into a leadership role. She said, “She can get better, she can keep getting better. She really pulled us up a little bit more out there. Her leadership really needs to be controlled and settled down as a senior. She was kind of watching and waiting for this, trying to figure out how we can get this thing rectified. I think that she’s the X Factor. It’s what I’m saying that we need to slow it down, calm down.”

With that, Penn St. hands Syracuse its first loss of the new season, as well as the first L in the Felisha Legette-Jack head coaching era at S.U. The Orange will try to recuperate and bounce back after Thanksgiving on Friday night at 7 p.m. when Bucknell comes to the Dome.