Syracuse trailed for much of the game at Georgia Tech last Sunday afternoon until, with about five minutes left in the fourth quarter, Alexis Peterson tied it.

After clawing all the way back, head coach Quentin Hillsman expected his team to finish the game off. Syracuse ended up losing by nine.

“If we just give it another 20 percent, 25 percent more, I think we win the game,” Hillsman said. “That was a game that I was very disappointed in our effort.”

Syracuse (13-6, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) has a sparkling 9-0 record at the Carrier Dome this season. But the Orange has almost as many losses on the road this year (six) as it had total losses all of last year (eight). SU needs to rectify its woes outside of the Dome when it goes to Tallahassee, Florida, to play No. 7 Florida State (17-2, 5-1) on Thursday night.

Sunday wasn’t the first time coaches have noticed a less-than-stellar effort from the Orange. Hillsman said his team just came out flat during a 108-84 loss to DePaul on Nov. 27 at a neutral site in Florida.
Assistant coach Tammi Reiss has likened the issues to a lack of effort, specifically on the defensive end and on the boards.

“We love offense,” Reiss said sarcastically. “We don’t want to guard anybody, and we don’t want to rebound.

“And that’s what our program’s about. Defending, turning people over and second chance points. And we’re not doing that.”

The Orange allows 56.3 points per game at home, but gives up 77.7 points on the road. Part of that massive disparity is thanks to early-season games against weaker opponents, such as giving up only 30 points to Coppin State on Dec. 7.

But the outliers don’t account for the more than 20-point difference. The Orange hadn’t given up more than 100 points in a game in either of the last two seasons. SU has done it twice this year.

“It’s all about the kind of energy we come on the court with,” senior forward Isabella Slim said. “(Sometimes) we come on the court with a lot of energy and it just goes well and just goes in a positive spiral, and sometimes it just goes the other way around.”

Reiss thinks that it’s an issue of having the proper mindset for playing on the road, making the trip an easy experience and feeding off the “chirping” opposing fans. Hillsman, though, pointed to the fact that it’s simply harder to win games away from home.

Still, he’s disappointed that his team hasn’t finished close away games down the stretch. It’s something he knows his team will have to change going forward in order to find consistency no matter where the game is played.

“That’s what we’re trying to do,” Reiss said. “Give that same effort we give at home, on the road.”

Published on January 18, 2017 at 11:36 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer