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GREENSBORO, N.C. — Feelings of déjà vu were palpable inside the Greensboro Coliseum. Syracuse found itself yet again down by double digits at the half to Florida State. Its offense was lifeless. Its defense was gassed. Though this time, Dyaisha Fair was nowhere close to hitting nine 3-pointers to spark a comeback.

The result was decided once Ta’Niya Latson emerged from first-half foul trouble to unleash 13 third-quarter points. The Seminoles led 67-45 through 30 minutes and the Orange simply couldn’t answer. SU’s deficit ballooned to as much as 27 versus FSU — bowing out of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament after just its first contest.

Here are some observations from No. 20 Syracuse’s (23-7, 13-5 ACC) 78-65 defeat to Florida State (23-9, 12-6 ACC) in the 2024 ACC Tournament quarterfinals:

Fair versus Bejedi

In the two sides’ regular-season meeting on Jan. 18, the Orange stormed back from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Seminoles 79-73 behind 31 points and a program-record nine 3s from Fair. Opponents often emphasize trapping Fair on the wings and doubling her on penetrations, but FSU went with a traditional man-to-man set to stop Fair.

Florida State guard Sara Bejedi was the one tasked to thwart Fair. On Syracuse’s opening possession, Bejedi didn’t look to the rest of the floor, spreading her arms and leaving her sights set squarely on Fair. She forced the First-Team All-ACC guard into tough positions early as Fair lacked space beyond the arc and was contested inside.

Bejedi’s early defense caused SU to grow stagnant in half-court sets. Fair finally began to break through midway into the first quarter, finding space and hitting Georgia Woolley for a 3-point play and also draining a couple 3s. The Orange tried to materialize open shots with off-ball screens, which Fair found success curling off of.

Still, though, Fair was just 3-for-8 from the field by halftime. Too many shots were forced and Bejedi’s lockdown one-on-one performance left Fair without much success on the fast break. Not much changed in the second half. Once Latson’s explosion occurred, Syracuse was too far behind for Fair to generate anything significant. She finished with 23 points on 7-for-15 shooting and was held by Bejedi to just two 3s on a measly five attempts.

Adjusting without Varejão…again

A 14-point, seven-rebound performance as the starting center in Syracuse’s regular-season finale against NC State gave hope that Izabel Varejão would provide the Orange with a significant postseason boost. But the team announced on March 7 that she didn’t travel to Greensboro due to an illness, ruling her out of the ACC Tournament.

Against Florida State, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack adjusted by starting Alyssa Latham and Kyra Wood in the frontcourt, with Saniaa Wilson coming off the bench. Though — while the Orange came into the night averaging the fifth-most offensive boards per game (16.4) — the loss of Varejão clearly hurt.

In the first half, they pulled in eight offensive rebounds but also allowed 19 FSU rebounds, which allowed plentiful fast-break opportunities for its blazing offense to get going. Syracuse needed to match with second-chance buckets, though it couldn’t receive them.

Makayla Timpson bullied SU’s frontcourt all night. She had 11 boards by halftime and finished with 18. Sophie Burrows played the four off the bench and had a difficult time producing against the powerful Timpson. On one play in the second quarter, Burrows hauled in a miss from Woolley, but was emphatically rejected by Timpson on the put-back try. The Seminoles scored on the other end.

Even on the defensive glass, the Orange had a tough time stopping the bleeding. Midway into the second, Sakyia White grabbed a board over Wilson and made the ensuing layup through a foul. White completed the 3-point play for a 26-20 Florida State lead. Without Varejão, SU closed the contest with 29 defensive boards allowed and just 10 second-chance points compared to FSU’s 24.

Flash Gordon

If you asked anybody which player on Florida State would most likely score 14 first-quarter points, they’d probably answer with Latson. But instead, O’Mariah Gordon outscored her season average (12.4 points per game) through just one quarter, going 5-for-6 from the field with two 3-pointers.

FSU displays a fast-paced offense, and no one exemplified that better than Gordon against Syracuse. She got out in transition for five quick points, including a 3-point play finishing through a Wood foul. Gordon continued to exert her dominance over a reeling SU early, draining a right-corner 3 and a pull-up jumper to help the Seminoles lead 14-4 in the first.

She even went toe-to-toe with Fair and got the last laugh. The two traded 3-pointers with less than a minute remaining in the first quarter. Yet, FSU got the ball last and it went to Gordon, who poured in a contested buzzer-beating layup to put her team up 23-18 after 10 minutes.

Though she was held in check in the second quarter, Gordon still generated a game-best 16 points through the first half. She was right back where she left off in the second half, galloping through SU’s man-to-man set for an easy layup. The next time she touched the ball, she brought in an offensive board and finished a put-back to reach the 20-point mark.

Gordon’s dominance helped the Seminoles maintain a large lead for the entire contest. Her 24 points were a season-best for the guard on a night where she outplayed Syracuse’s top option in Fair.

No comeback in sight

Legette-Jack could only shake her head in disappointment as she peaked at the scoreboard midway into the third quarter: Florida State 56, Syracuse 35. Her squad hadn’t trailed by that much since Jan. 4 versus North Carolina — a game that was once thought to be out of sight and out of mind for the Orange.

Near the one-minute mark of the third with Syracuse down by 22, Fair penetrated the lane but flailed to her right as she chucked up an underhanded runner, which bricked. A few possessions later, Woolley was swiped by Amaya Bonner at the top of the key and Bonner charged coast-to-coast for a layup to give her squad a 24-point advantage.

The Orange had been accustomed to playing with giant deficits. Nineteen against Clemson. Eighteen in their previous matchup versus FSU. Ten to Louisville. All of those matchups turned into improbable wins but when it mattered the most, Syracuse lacked the qualities that propelled it to large comebacks in the past: deadly 3-point shooting, and causing turnovers.

SU closed the contest just 3-for-11 from 3. The Orange lacked the volume of Florida State’s offense to even come relatively close to storming back. And the Seminoles only turned the ball over nine times as Syracuse couldn’t claw back through fast break chances. It was a recipe for disaster, and a comeback was never in sight.

Published on March 8, 2024 at 9:39 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews