Syracuse women’s basketball falls 76-60 at Wake Forest

Another big road loss for the Orange, who fall to 11-16

Syracuse Orange women’s basketball dropped its fourth straight game on Thursday night, falling to the Wake Forest Demon Deacons 76-60 at the Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The Orange finish the regular season 2-10 away from the Carrier Dome.

It was a lot of the same old stuff for Syracuse. The Orange surrendered 44 points in the paint and lost 43-30 in the rebounding margin. The offense also struggled, finishing the game 38 percent from the floor and making 6-of-20 from beyond the arc.

Syracuse once again fell victim to a deeper team, failing to get any production from the bench and getting outscored 17-0 (in a game it lost by 16). It seems like the Orange legs may be on the verge of totally collapsing.

Teisha Hyman put together another prolific game, ending the night with 26 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals in 37 minutes. Christianna Carr played from the tip to the final horn, scoring 15 and adding six boards. Alaysia Styles was the only other Syracuse player in double-figures with 10.

The Demon Deacons employed a much more balanced effort, with four players posting double-figure performances. Christina Morra controlled the paint with 21 points and 13 rebounds, becoming the latest post player to torment the Orange.

Jewel Spear added 19 for the home team while Niyah Becker particularly hurt the Orange early, scoring all of her 13 points in the first half and adding eight boards.

Wake shot 49 percent from the field, not really bothering with perimeter shooting when it could pick the Orange apart in the paint for the entire night. The Demon Deacons scored 20 points off 16 Syracuse turnovers.

The Orange allowed the first eight points of the game before coming back to take a short-lived 16-15 lead thanks to a Hyman score late in the first frame. The lead didn’t last for long, and Wake scored the last six points of the quarter to take a 21-16 lead after Becker scored in close.

Syracuse played sloppy to start the second quarter, failing to take advantage of opportunities in the paint and committing three turnovers. While Wake did not immediately capitalize, it began to stretch its lead as halftime approached.

A three-point play from Elise Williams made it a 28-18 game with 4:52 left in the first half and while the Orange stabilized thanks to Hyman and Carr, scoring from Spear and Becker helped the Demon Deacons take a 39-28 lead into the break.

Five straight points from Spear to open the second half took any air that Syracuse had out of its sails. Williams hit a short jumper to make it a 52-32 Wake lead with 5:53 left in the third. The Demon Deacons stayed in control and took a 64-43 lead into the fourth.

For the third time in as many games, Syracuse was squarely out of the picture with ten minutes left. The Orange showed some fight, using a 12-2 run to draw to within 66-55 with 5:38 left.

That was the closest they would come. Wake was the fresher side and got the lead back to 71-57 with two minutes left to put things completely out of reach.

The Orange return home for senior day against Boston College on Sunday at noon.