Pressed for a win, Orange ratchet up defense

Head coach Quentin Hillsman’s defense has always been that way. Despite sizeable leads, the Orange won’t slow down and move directly into a zone. Sometimes, that generates easy opposing lay-ups and costly transition buckets. But against UMBC, it widened Syracuse’s blowout.

“We have players over six feet so,” said point guard Kiara Lewis. “That was an advantage we had on them.”

Hillsman came into Sunday’s matchup in a position he hadn’t been in six seasons, losers of three-straight. SU fell out of the Top 25 rankings after a 4-3 start, and before facing No. 24 Michigan on Dec. 5, Hillsman predicted they’d be back in the rankings next week.

An eight-point loss in Ann Arbor, Michigan, didn’t help his case. And 10 minutes into SU’s ninth game of the season, the struggles almost reappeared.

“We didn’t do much at practice, we’re just trying to get our legs back under us and recover,” Hillsman said, “so we didn’t come out real crisp.”

A successful press coincided with turnovers from Syracuse’s starting lineup, keeping UMBC close throughout the first half. After the first quarter break, which SU led 17-15, Taleah Washington pounced on a bounce pass to Retrievers forward Janee’a Summers feet from the baseline. After a scramble, the ball found Emily Engstler’s hands.

Later, Kiara Lewis intercepted a pair of passes before UMBC made it past half-court. The redshirt junior finished with four steals, her second highest total this season.

“Coach Q came in and told us we had 10 turnovers and they hadn’t even been pressing,” Lewis said. “So we had to take care of the ball. That was keeping them in the game.”

The Syracuse offense picked up inside as almost half of its point total (40) came from inside paint. UMBC still struggled to make halfway down the court in eight seconds. When they did, the Retrievers were slow in their sets as SU went under screens rather than over, Lewis said. Several times, UMBC was forced into a shot clock violation because it couldn’t find a shot.

Hillsman kept his core in to start the fourth despite a 27-point lead. The opening inbound was stolen by Lewis who found an open Hyman under the basket, part of her career-high 16 points.

SU put 12 players in on Sunday, including eight that played over 10 minutes. That kept Hillsman’s players fresh enough to continue the press throughout the game. That strategy, which he’s relied on in losses against Green Bay and Michigan, remedied a slow first quarter. But more than that, helped the Orange forget about a 4-4 start, he said.

“We’ve tested ourselves so no one in the country can look at this team and say, ‘They didn’t play anybody,’” Hillsman said. “They’re going to say the opposite.”