Syracuse, N.Y. — A five-minute scoring drought in the second quarter dug the Syracuse women’s basketball team into a hole it couldn’t overcome in Thursday’s 65-55 loss to No. 18 Georgia Tech.
The defeat continued the Orange’s slow start to the new year. Syracuse has lost four straight games in 2022 and five overall since a loss at North Carolina on Dec. 30.
Syracuse (8-9, 1-6 ACC) couldn’t buy a basket in the first five minutes of the second quarter, even if it was an open shot. The Orange made 23.5% of its attempts on 4-of-17 shooting in the second quarter. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech tacked on nine consecutive points in that five-minute span to build a healthy 31-17 lead before a media timeout. The Orange’s offensive struggles continued after the break, but Alaysia Styles was able to connect on her second 3-pointer and Chrislyn Carr made a difficult layup to stop the bleeding.
However, it wasn’t enough to prevent Georgia Tech (14-4, 5-2 ACC) and its primary scoring group of Nerea Hermosa, Lorela Cubaj, Lotta-Maj Lahtinen and Eylia Love. Hermosa, a junior center for the Yellow Jackets, had a game-high 21 points and seven rebounds on 8-of-11 shooting from the field. Cubaj finished with 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Love and Lahtinen had 10 and nine points, respectively.
The game was Syracuse’s first in seven days since an 84-71 loss at No. 3 Louisville. The Orange was supposed to play a struggling Virginia team on Sunday, but the game was postponed due to inclement weather in Charlottesville.
Teisha Hyman led Syracuse with 18 points, while Alaysia Styles and Chrislyn Carr scored 12 points each. The Orange entered the game with a 3-6 record when outrebounded by its opponent and that trend continued as SU lost the rebounding battle, 48-27.
Digna Strautmane made her return to the Carrier Dome in her first game back in Syracuse since transferring to Georgia Tech last spring. It was the fourth time this season that Syracuse faced a former player from last season’s roster. She played well on both ends of the floor, finishing with six points, seven rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Strautmane knocked down a 3-pointer in the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to give Georgia Tech an 11-point lead.
Three-pointers were hard to come by in this game. Georgia Tech went 2-of-12 from behind the arc. Syracuse finished 4-of-19 from distance, and Styles and Hyman made two triples each. Before Thursday, Styles only had one triple in seven attempts.
Georgia Tech started the game on a 5-0 run, primarily because of Cubaj and Lahtinen. However, before the game started, there was an administrative technical foul assessed to Syracuse, so Lahtinen drained a free throw to give the Yellow Jackets a 1-0 lead before tip-off. Technical fouls are usually assessed before the game because a team’s starters are either late or are listed incorrectly in the scorebook.
Syracuse gained momentum after the media timeout thanks to back-to-back tough layups by Carr and went into the second quarter down by six.
Syracuse came out of the quarter break and struggled on offense, failing to score for the first five minutes of the second quarter when Alaysia Styles made a layup. Meanwhile, Georgia Tech tacked on nine consecutive points in that span to build a healthy 31-17 lead before a timeout. The Orange’s offensive struggles continued after the break, but Styles was able to connect on her second 3-pointer and Carr made another difficult layup to stop the bleeding a tad. Georgia Tech took a 35-24 lead into the half.
A change in baskets didn’t help the Orange, either. After the half, Syracuse continued to shoot poorly from the field until a 6-2 run late in the third quarter brought the Orange within six points. A jumper as time expired by Carr brought the Orange within six points again going into the fourth quarter, which Georgia Tech maintained control until the very end.
The Orange will look to snap its losing streak at Notre Dame on Jan. 27, a rematch from earlier this season in the Carrier Dome.
A few notes from Thursday: It was the first home game for former Syracuse men’s basketball guard Shaun Belbey, who joined the women’s staff this month as the manager of multimedia and technology ... Former Syracuse women’s basketball player Miranda Drummond attended the game after spending two years playing professionally in Greece.
Contact Mike Curtis anytime: Email | Twitter
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