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After finishing dead last at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament, Syracuse returns home to face another struggling side in Colgate. The Orange showed signs of improvement throughout the tournament, but their inability to generate late-game offensive production led to a winless trip to the Bahamas.

Syracuse made over a third of its 3-point field goals twice at Battle 4 Atlantis, including a 50% performance from beyond the arc against Buffalo. The Orange also recorded a season-low eight turnovers against Minnesota and tied it with 16 offensive rebounds, but foul trouble saw the Gophers shoot 89.5% from the free-throw line and narrowly edge SU by seven points.

The Raiders have won just two games since the abrupt ending to the 2019-20 season after going 1-8 a season ago and winning just one game this season ahead of Sunday’s matchup.

Before Syracuse (2-4, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) takes on Colgate (1-4) in a nonconference central New York showdown at the Carrier Dome, here’s what you need to know about the Raiders.

All-time series

Syracuse leads 14-0

Last time they played

Syracuse cruised to a 40-point victory in the Dome in December 2017 with three players shooting 50% or better from the field. Miranda Drummond posted 18 points going 7-for-10 from the field along with four 3s. Tiana Mangakahia and Digna Strautmane each made half of their 10 field goal attempts, scoring 13 and 11 points, respectively.

The Orange were up 51-16 at halftime as the game finished 79-39. The win was the ninth of an 11-game win streak to start the 2017-18 season before a loss three games later to No. 5 Mississippi State halted Syracuse’s perfect start.

The Raiders report

Colgate has only scored 54.2 points per game through its first five games, which ranks 316th nationally. The Raiders have topped 60 points just twice and were held to a season-low 34 points in its season-opening loss to Cornell. Against the Big Red, Colgate shot just 24.5% from the field and made three 3s — a sixth of its attempts.

The Raiders have a mixture of experience and younger talent across their roster, with half of their starting lineup being either underclassmen in their first full season of collegiate basketball — since they played just nine games last season — or upperclassmen who were a part of Colgate’s last winning season in 2019-20 where it went 19-11. Jenna Paul, who led the Raiders with a 66% 3-point field goal percentage two seasons ago as a freshman, is once again their leader from long range at just below 50% on 19 attempts.

Still, prior to Colgate’s 9-point win over UMBC a little over two weeks ago, Colgate’s last win came 330 days before Sunday against Army back in early January of last season. Syracuse will be Colgate’s first Power Five opponent since it fell 72-52 against Alabama in December 2019, the Raiders’ first ACC opponent since the last time these two teams met.

How Syracuse beats Colgate

After posting a season-high 10 3s against Buffalo, Syracuse shouldn’t have a hard time winning the game beyond the arc, as Colgate has only topped 30% once. But the Orange’s near perfect string of 3s faltered in the second half as they went 1-for-6 and 39% from the field after shooting over 50% in the opening half.

Staying consistent is the main key to getting back to .500. Syracuse is evenly matched with Colgate height-wise but otherwise has been able to generate consistent rebounds against bigger teams — which includes a season-high 20 offensive rebounds against a taller Notre Dame. But SU is still heavily reliant on its speed, which is why when it is in control of its fast break, Syracuse wins games.

Player to watch: Sophia Diehl, forward, No. 13

As a true freshman, Sophia Diehl has played over 20 minutes in each game this season. She is Colgate’s second-highest point scorer (50) and leads the team with 27 total rebounds and a 44% field-goal percentage. Diehl has posted double figures in three games so far including a double-double in Colgate’s only win of the season against UMBC, recording 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The 6-foot-1 forward is by far Colgate’s best option off the bench and will provide the Raiders much needed support within the paint since she is taller than three of Syracuse’s starters.

Stat to know: 17.8

The Raiders commit 17.8 personal fouls per game which will only further Syracuse’s consistent free-throw shooting. Colgate’s season-high 27 fouls came in its 74-65 loss to Niagara, where the Purple Eagles converted 21 free throws. This allowed Niagara to scrape by the Raiders despite shooting just 37% from the field.

The Orange’s free-throw shooting has been their most reliable aspect of its point production. Collectively, the Orange have missed just 12 of their 66 shots from the line and have recorded at least three-quarters of them in each game since the opener against Monmouth — missing just two or fewer in four games. Christianna Carr and Teisha Hyman have been Syracuse’s most productive shooters from the line, going 15-for-17 and 10-for-11 to start the season, respectively. Each SU player with at least five free-throw attempts has at least a 70% make percentage.

Although Syracuse commits 15 personal fouls per game, it won’t be exploited by Colgate on the free-throw line. And it’s certainly an area the Orange can exploit the latter en route to another convincing home victory.

Published on November 28, 2021 at 12:37 am

Contact Alex: ahcirino@syr.edu