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Syracuse guard Kiara Lewis was waiting, dribbling at the top of the key, with SU leading 61-57 on the road against Pittsburgh. As the defense rotated, the fifth-year senior made her move, driving past a couple of defenders before leaping for a layup.

Pittsburgh forward Cynthia Ezeja jumped to contest, misdirecting the shot but fouling Lewis in the process. Lewis walked slowly to the free-throw line and readied to shoot. 

Her first foul shot bounced off the side of the rim, as Syracuse struggled to pull away from Pitt. Lewis’ next shot didn’t connect, either.

Last season, scorekeepers had to be attentive to Lewis’ free throws. As the primary scorer for SU, Lewis shot 70.4% from the free-throw line. This season, Lewis’ free-throw percentage has fallen to 64.7%, which is still almost a percentage point better than the team average of 63.9%, the worst it’s been since its 2014-15 season. 

Syracuse’s (11-5, 8-5 Atlantic Coast) porous free-throw shooting ranks 283rd in the nation and is the worst in the ACC. But the Orange aren’t just struggling to make their shots from the stripe — they’ve struggled to draw fouls all season. The Orange’s 305 free-throw attempts are 38 fewer than Clemson, who has attempted the second fewest in the conference.

“We just need to take our time,” Lewis said of the team’s free-throw shooting after defeating Wake Forest. “It’s been a tough stat for me all season.”

Lewis isn’t the only SU player shooting career-low averages from the line. Tiana Mangakahia — who led the ACC with an 88.2% free-throw percentage in 2018-19 — has seen her free-throw shooting slip under 84%. While that’s still best on the team of players who have attempted at least 10 free throws, it’s far off from the fifth-year senior’s career average. 

Besides the two guards, Emily Engstler is the only player from last season’s team that is a regular at the charity stripe. Just like Lewis and Mangakahia, Engstler’s shooting has diminished this season. After shooting nearly 70% last season, Engstler is converting on just 54.5% of her shots from the line.

A large portion of Engstler’s offensive production is from interior scoring, unlike Mangakahia and Lewis. While she can step outside and hit 3’s, the Orange often rely on Engstler to attack the glass. But inconsistent shooting — as well as limited attempts — has prevented Syracuse from pulling away from lesser teams. 

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“You’re in that situation for a lot different reasons. You miss a free throw here and there,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We did some things that (were) uncharacteristic of winning a game down the stretch.”

Syracuse has two of the better guards in the ACC, a bundle of former five-star recruits and one of the best post players in the country. But free-throw shooting has been its biggest area of weakness. While it’s an uncharacteristic trait for one of the better ACC teams, it’s become a defining flaw in Syracuse’s game.

In Syracuse’s 76-63 loss to Georgia Tech, Lewis had a chance to cut the Yellow Jackets lead to just three points in the fourth quarter. After driving to the left side of the hoop, Syracuse’s guard was fouled by forward Lorela Cubaj. 

Lewis had a chance to change the momentum, but that potential boost for the Orange vanished once Lewis’ first free throw rattled around the rim before falling out. On her second attempt, Lewis’ shot bounced harmlessly off the front of the rim. In a back-and-forth game, Syracuse’s free throws often failed to change the scoreboard. 

In addition to missing free throws, Syracuse struggled to draw fouls and trips to the line, finishing 0-4 from the charity stripe. Some of that can be attributed to Hillsman’s offensive strategy of shooting as many 3’s as possible. But freshman Kamilla Cardoso — the tallest player in the ACC — was the only other player to shoot a free throw for SU. 

“We’re going in the paint, and we should have a few more opportunities, more than four at the free-throw line,” Hillsman said.

Cardoso’s inconsistency at the charity stripe is one of the main reasons Syracuse has struggled from the line. So far in her first season, Cardoso is shooting 55.7% from the line. Almost all of her scoring production comes on the low blocks, where Cardoso can either box out opponents and shoot over them or take a power dribble and spin move to get to the basket. But when she’s forced to shoot from outside the paint, she struggles.

But, there are games where she shoots from the free-throw line consistently. In SU’s second matchup with Pitt, Cardoso attempted a career-high 11 free throws, finding the bottom of the net on eight of the shot attempts. 

Tiana Mangakahia has seen her free throw percentage dip below 84%. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA Today Sports

Besides the occasions where Cardoso takes free throw after free throw, there are many more contests where she struggles to draw fouls. SU has played six games this season where Cardoso attempted three foul shots or less. In four of SU’s five losses this season, Cardoso shot four free throws or fewer.

After trailing by just three against No. 1 Louisville at halftime, the Cardinals limited Syracuse’s foul shots and pulled away from the Orange in the second half, winning 67-54. Syracuse shot just 6-11 from the line, with Cardoso attempting two shots. 

Instead of pushing closer to the basket, Cardoso often used her size to simply shoot over opponents. 

Early in the second quarter, with Syracuse leading 22-19, Cardoso drove from the baseline and tried an underhand layup. After missing, Cardoso grabbed her own rebound and misfired again. The freshman collected her miss before jumping for another shot. This time, she was fouled. 

While Cardoso hit one of two free throws, it was the only time she used her length inside to draw a foul. Only three Syracuse players shot a foul shot against Louisville. Even when SU did get to the free-throw line, it failed to capitalize.

“We got to make shots. You can’t shoot 15% from behind the arc and shoot 54% from the free-throw line,” Hillsman said.

So far this season, Syracuse hasn’t consistently made shots from the free-throw line. Games where Syracuse hits just half of its free throws aren’t anomalies.

As the regular season draws closer to an end, Syracuse is running out of time to fix a yearlong problem. As a result, Syracuse is failing to close the gap with the best teams in the ACC and to stomp out games against inferior opponents.

“At the end of the day, we got to start to put our foot down on some of these games and really get the game under control.” Hillsman said after losing to Georgia Tech.

Published on February 14, 2021 at 10:52 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_