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Right before the first-half buzzer sounded, South Dakota State forward Kallie Theisen drove in the lane. She looked to cut Syracuse’s first-half lead to six after the Orange used an 8-0 spurt to close the half, but SU center Amaya Finklea-Guity was mirroring her every move.

Theisen slowed her motion to shoot, and Finklea-Guity raised her hands, closed down her matchup and swatted the layup out of bounds. 

Against No. 1 seed UConn on Tuesday night, Syracuse will be without four suspended players, who violated team protocols, and freshman Priscilla Williams, who didn’t travel to Texas after sustaining an injury during the conference tournament two weeks ago. Head coach Quentin Hillsman said that Syracuse (15-8, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) will rely on Finklea-Guity and Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi off the bench throughout the rest of the NCAA Tournament. 

The two have been instrumental in the postseason — Djaldi-Tabdi played three times her regular season average in minutes during Syracuse’s semifinal run in the ACC Tournament. Finklea-Guity played twice her regular season minutes, too.

The two combined for just four points in Syracuse’s 72-55 first-round victory on Sunday, but Hillsman said he plans to use them in lineups he rarely utilized throughout the season. 

“You might see them often on the floor together,” Hillsman said of the two frontcourt players. “We got into that in the ACC Tournament, and we have some big lineups in the game, and they played really, really well together.”

The two were the only reserves to enter the game for the shorthanded Orange on Sunday. While Finklea-Guity couldn’t convert on her three field goal attempts, Syracuse relied on the senior to spare Kamilla Cardoso, who played just 23 minutes. All season, the two veterans have been there to step in when Cardoso’s having an off-day. They’ve mentored the freshman, too, Hillsman said in December.

“For another player like Maeva …  to come in and take a role like 30 minutes … it’s really good,” guard Emily Engstler said on March 5. “She’s a really good, crafty basketball player who’s extremely versatile.”

That versatility was on display in Djaldi-Tabdi’s 34 minutes in the ACC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Florida State. With Syracuse trailing 37-22 to the Seminoles, Djaldi-Tabdi cut past her defender, as Engstler controlled possession at the top of the key. Once Djaldi-Tabdi beat her defender, Engstler delivered a bounce pass to the  redshirt junior, which Djaldi-Tabdi easily laid off the glass and through the hoop. 

As time dwindled in the fourth quarter, Kiara Lewis sprinted down court in a transition offense. As FSU’s defenders backpedaled, the transition defense closed Lewis’ path to the hoop.

She dished a pass to the left wing, where Djaldi-Tabdi was wide open. After cutting to the rim earlier and using post-moves throughout the game to score in the low-post, Djaldi-Tabdi caught the basketball, looked toward the hoop and set her feet. With no one to contest, the forward sank her only triple of the game to cut the Seminoles’ lead to one.

“She’s a good presence inside, she can shoot outside,” former SU teammate Brooke Alexander said of Djaldi-Tabdi. “She has good post moves inside. I feel like she’s pretty dynamic.”

The 6-foot-2 Djaldi-Tabdi and 6-foot-4 Finklea-Guity give Syracuse a size advantage that most teams — including South Dakota State — couldn’t match.

Hillsman subbed in Djaldi-Tabdi early on against the Seminoles, with Syracuse trailing 7-0. One minute and four FSU points later, Hillsman added Finklea-Guity to replace the struggling Cardoso.

The two connected after just two possessions on the floor when Djaldi-Tabdi found Finklea-Guity cutting. The senior spun to her left, past an FSU defender and toward the basket, converting an easy layup.

And a couple possessions later, SU returned to Finklea-Guity. She shook off a defender, found separation and drilled a shot, jump-starting a stagnant Syracuse offense.

“It’s a different point of view,” Finklea-Guity said of coming off the bench after starting the previous three seasons. “I have to bring my experience now onto the court off the bench and try to facilitate.”

Against the nation’s best team on Tuesday night, Syracuse will need as much depth as it can get. The Orange were one player short of the ACC Tournament final because fatigue caught up to them, said Engstler’s AAU coach, Jess Villaplana. 

UConn’s 6-foot-5 forward Olivia Nelson-Ododa is one of the few players in the nation who can match up with Cardoso, and she was named the Big East Co-Defensive Player of the Year. 

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More on Syracuse women’s basketball:

• Syracuse defeats South Dakota State 72-55 to advance to round of 32
  
• Emily Engstler’s offseason transformation ignites her best year to date
  
• Season-high in blocks, steals propels Syracuse over South Dakota State
  
• Road trip from Greensboro: How far can Syracuse women’s basketball go?
  

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Instead of looking to score in the paint, the Orange may have more success utilizing a facilitator such as Finklea-Guity. Combined with the versatility of Djaldi-Tabdi, Syracuse can use flexible schemes with its veteran reserves. Their performance during the conference tournament was “promising” and “encouraging,” Hillsman said.

Djaldi-Tabdi’s size, frame and athleticism allows for mobility on both sides of the floor, former assistant coach Adeniyi Amadou said. Unlike most bigs, Djaldi-Tabdi can step outside the arc to knock down 3s. Defensively, the 6-foot-2 forward can guard interior players. Recently, Hillsman’s used her in taller lineups where the redshirt junior guards smaller players on the wings.

With Djaldi-Tabdi guarding on the perimeter, Hillsman has implemented her in conjunction with Finklea-Guity in the paint. Finklea-Guity doesn’t block shots at the rate that Cardoso does, but she boxes out opponents, rolls in help defense and rarely misses assignments.

“You really can’t forget, too, that we’ve got Amaya behind, playing in that position who’s a senior, who started and played big minutes,” Hillsman said.

While the Djaldi-Tabdi and Finklea-Guity were secondary options to Cardoso, the starter, throughout the course of the season, Hillsman has implemented both in the waning minutes during the regular season. But with a depleted roster, the two provided a veteran presence for SU. They may come off the bench, Hillsman and Syracuse don’t view either as reserves.

“We’ve got to have seven or eight starters,” Hillsman said. “Amaya is ending, so she’s taking the game home, and she’s winning the game for us down the stretch.”

Published on March 22, 2021 at 11:08 pm

Contact Thomas: tgshults@syr.edu | @ThomasShults_