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After Syracuse’s narrow win over Wake Forest Sunday, SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack was visibly frustrated. The Demon Deacons had got their way in the paint through most of the contest.

The third-year head coach motioned her fists together and then apart to imitate how her players should’ve used their long wingspans to restrict WF. She put extra emphasis on the word “battle,” saying SU needed to fight harder and not give up space under the rim so easily.

Despite Syracuse (10-13, 4-8 Atlantic Coast) defeating Wake Forest (8-15, 1-11 Atlantic Coast) 62-50, SU allowed 36 points in the paint, keeping the game close until the end of the fourth quarter. However, after WF scored 22 points in the area in the first half, the Orange listened to Legette-Jack’s advice and slowed the Demon Deacons in the second, propelling them to a comeback victory.

Wake Forest made its game plan clear early. It was going to attack the Orange in the paint and make them beat it there. Mid-range shots and 3-point shots were rare in the opening stages.

On Wake Forest’s first possession, Malaya Cowles received the ball at the top of the key and heaved a pass to Aurora Sørbye to the left of the paint. Sørbye skipped a pass to under the rim to DeMeara Hinds, who blew past Kyra Wood to convert a layup.

From there, Hinds continued to establish herself on the offensive glass. The 6-foot-2 redshirt senior entered the game averaging 9.1 points per game and finished with 14 points Sunday.

With 6:55 remaining in the first quarter, Sørbye dribbled into the paint and looked to attempt a shot under the basket herself. But as Varejão and Wood crashed in on her, she lobbed the ball over their heads to Hinds on the other side of the paint. Hinds jockeyed for room with Wood, but ultimately, her attempt off the board found nylon. She added another layup just 40 seconds later, again assisted by Sørbye.

During this time, though, SU stuck with the Demon Deacons. It trailed just 9-7 after four minutes. But then, the Orange were dealt a big blow.

Starting center Izabel Varejão was taken out of the game at the 5:59 mark of the first quarter and never returned to the contest. Varejão has dealt with lingering injuries through the middle of last season and the beginning of this campaign. The sixth-year senior along with Wood have been Syracuse’s best bigs this year, and the loss of size allowed Wake Forest to continue getting its way inside.

“We weren’t prepared for Iza not to be in there, because (the players) work in segments. And (Wood) lost her buddy out there,” Legette-Jack said.

With Varejão’s absence, WF went on an 8-0 run to take a 17-9 lead, with all of the points coming in the paint. To start, Cowles supplanted herself under the bucket and received a long pass from Rylie Theuerkauf. With substitute bigs Saniaa Wilson and Keira Scott in the game, she easily avoided them for the easy layup. Theuerkauf and Hinds added two more layups to cap the run.

As the game wore on, the Demon Deacons kept dominating, with 22 of their 31 first-half points coming in the paint. Legette-Jack was visibly frustrated postgame, saying her players were standing still and letting WF catch the ball, leading to easy buckets.

Wilson, who’s minutes increased to 16 without Varejão in the mix, mentioned Wake Forest’s physicality as a reason for their dominance. Despite players consistently being double-teamed inside, they wormed their way out of trouble for layups or short floaters.

“They were just getting a little too deep. So I think it was just a foot race and trying to match that physicality on the back end,” Wilson said.

To start the second half, Hinds scored her 14th point after Theuerkauf again drew Wood toward her to create a wide-open layup. But from there, SU began to shut down Wake Forest in the area.

Specifically, it more than eliminated Hinds — the Demon Deacons’ best post player — from the fold. Hinds picked up her second and third personal fouls three minutes into the third quarter, and she was quickly relegated to the bench. She returned for brief spurts but didn’t score again in the half.

WF tried to go back to the paint, but it didn’t work. Two minutes after Hinds’ departure, Sørbye collected the ball at the edge of the paint and tried to bounce it to Theuerkauf down low, but Sophie Burrows intercepted the pass, turning over possession.

A similar play happened a little over a minute later when Elise Williams — WF’s leading scorer that SU held to just two points — drove to the basket and had the ball poked free by Wilson.

Without Hinds and Syracuse’s increased physicality, Wake Forest crumbled. Just a 31.1% 3-point shooting team entering the contest, WF was forced to resort to attempts from deep. And the Demon Deacons couldn’t get anything to land, finishing 4-of-19 with only 14 points in the paint after halftime.

This allowed Syracuse to complete a second-half comeback and notch its second straight ACC win. However, the game never should’ve come down to the wire.

“That’s not who we are,” Legette-Jack said postgame of SU’s first-half defense. “(Wake Forest) really did an amazing job fighting hard for that position. And what we need to do is, she battles hard, we let her go and get in front of her.”

Published on February 9, 2025 at 6:08 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99