The game was already in hand. Syracuse was pummeling Loyola (Md.) by more than 20 points in the second half of a blowout victory. Kayla Alexander sat on the bench, as all the Orange needed to do was wind down the clock.

With 11 minutes remaining, Alexander watched Rachel Coffey pulled up for her first 3-point attempt of the game, canning it to give SU a 68-33 lead. Just more than a minute later, Carmen Tyson-Thomas knocked down a 3 of her own from the right wing before Coffey answered less than a minute later with another. With each made 3-pointer, the players seated on the Syracuse bench got progressively more excited.

“We were having a grand old time,” Alexander said. “We were getting so hyped. Because they just kept hitting 3 after 3, steal after steal. We were getting so into it. It makes the whole team feel so alive. It was fun to watch.”

The 3-pointers continued to fall. Tyson-Thomas and Coffey traded 3s for the Orange’s next six points. The two guards scored 18 consecutive points for SU during a four-minute stretch in the second half. Syracuse (9-1) went on an 18-3 run in that span, ending any hope the Greyhounds (4-6) had of a miraculous comeback as the Orange went on to an 83-48 victory in front of 417 in the Carrier Dome.

For four minutes, Coffey and Tyson-Thomas did what they do best: bring a spark off the SU bench.

The two have started just one game combined this season, but both have been relied upon as two of Syracuse’s most dependable offensive options from the outside.

“We have two players come off the bench that can shoot,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “I think it changes the whole game when you have to players coming off the bench that are veteran players, that can really shoot the ball and can come into the game and do exactly what we need them to do.”

Tyson-Thomas finished with 15 points while Coffey finished with nine, all of which came during that four-minute stretch when she was a perfect 3-for-3 from beyond the arc. As a team, the Orange finished 9-of-21 from 3-point range.

It was a far cry from Tuesday night when Syracuse went just 3-of-20 in a win over Wagner, but it proved just why Hillsman wasn’t worried about his team’s shooting.

“We get the same shots—some games we miss them, some games we make them,” Hillsman said. “We shoot a lot in practice every day, so all we can do is continue to get reps.”

Hillsman said he jokes with the team that he’s the best shooter on the team and that Coffey and Tyson-Thomas “jumped into my body” to pull off the incredible run.

But Tyson-Thomas unsurprisingly begs to differ. After the game, she staked claim to that title and freshman guard Brittney Sykes backed her up.

It was also the reason she was shooting so much during the second half. With Alexander off the court, Tyson-Thomas became the Orange’s best scoring option, leaving Hillsman to draw up plays for the guard.

At the end of the run, a Loyola player shouted to her teammates not to let Tyson-Thomas take another 3. Even with the defense focused on Tyson-Thomas SU persisted to get the ball to her.

She missed the shot on that possession, but by then the damage was done. Syracuse had stretched its already massive lead to an exorbitant number behind the sharp shooting of Tyson-Thomas and Coffey. And if those two can do something similar every game the Orange will have exactly what it wants.

“We were just on fire,” Tyson-Thomas said. “We came off the bench with a spark and I think that’s what we need to add every game and it’ll be a real asset in addition to running offense, so it’ll help our teammates and our starters get on the bench and get a real good blow.”

Published on December 8, 2012 at 6:02 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2