Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman turned around and waited his team to jog to its defensive end after a made basket in the second quarter. Instead, behind Hillsman’s left shoulder, Miranda Drummond trapped a Niagara guard. The guard slipped free and charged the lane, where another white jersey stood. 

The guard panicked, and flipped a pass to center court where Drummond lurked. The ball ricocheted to Gabrielle Cooper, who dished it back to Drummond for the freebie lay-up. By the time Hillsman noticed the score change, Drummond jogged across his view and settled in the Orange’s 2-3 zone.

The defensive pressure SU spent a week fine-tuning materialized on Monday afternoon as No. 15 Syracuse (9-2) steamrolled Niagara (3-7), 94-45, in the Carrier Dome in front of 6,093 hollering kids on School Day. The Orange facilitated its best overall performance of the season as no Niagara scorer reached double-digit points and SU produced its third-straight 90-point plus outing. Syracuse rode a 51.4 percent field goal percentage, a 28-0 run in garbage time and five players with double-digit points. Tiana Mangakahia orchestrated the offense with a season-high 15 assists, and Drummond posted a game-high 19 points.

“I think we did a really good job of playing fast and getting down the court in transition,” Hillsman said.

SU started its current three-game, non-Power 5 opponent homestand with back-to-back 40-point victories. Monday’s matchup was the most dominant, as the Orange controlled all four quarters and never trailed.

In the first frame, Digna Strautmane corralled an offensive board and passed it to Mangakahia at the top of the key for a deep ball. A Strautmane 3 on the next trip pushed the lead to double-digits. On a third-straight trip down the floor, Drummond stepped into another long ball. Niagara used a timeout to halt an 11-0 blitz, capped off by a Amaya Finklea-Guity layup. Then, the Purple Eagles threw the ball away on the inbound, and Emily Engstler muscled into the paint and earned another bucket.

By the waning minutes of the quarter, Hillsman was rotating in third-string forwards and the lead ballooned to 15.

The Orange offense ran as seamlessly as it did in the second half of their blowout win against Maryland Eastern Shore 12 days earlier. SU featured a four-out, one-in set with Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi or Finklea-Guity patrolling the paint. Syracuse sped passes around the perimeter and created space for open shooters or a lane for a big.

SU continued the trend in the second quarter while its defensive full-court press synched in. For weeks, Hillsman said, defenders forgot to communicate once in possession. But on Monday, five-foot Niagara guard Maggie McIntyre sprinted into a few Orange traps near the scorer’s table. As a result, multiple desperation passes were lofted toward mid-court and stolen by the Orange. The layoff between games allowed SU to “clean” its rotation and produce 35 turnovers into 36 SU points.

“When (the press) works, it really helps us on the offensive end as well,” Mangakahia said. “Today it was working for us.”

The extra possessions masked SU’s eight second-quarter turnovers. Djaldi-Tabdi personally coughed the ball up six times throughout the game, souring Hillsman’s quest for “clean basketball.” But against an inferior opponent, the talent disparity showed.

Englster, playing 18 minutes after Hillsman benched her against the Hawks, specifically made an impact, finishing the first half with eight points, five rebounds and an emphatic block that caused the Orange bench to jump up.

Syracuse entered the break with a 27-point lead and totaled more 3-pointers (nine) than Niagara’s field goals (eight).

The Purple Eagles started the third quarter on a rare 5-0 run, as McIntyre and Emerald Ekpiteta recorded buckets. But then, as SU did all game, it scored. Mangakahia drove baseline, flipped to Drummond and watched as the wing swished one of Syracuse’s 15 3s.

The Orange rotation deepened in the fourth, as the bench rocketed the point total to 80 then 85. The 2-3 zone, combined with the ever-present full-court press, blanketed Niagara to its second-lowest point total of the season. And Niagara’s 45 points was the lowest Syracuse’s given up since holding Colgate to 39 a season ago.

Like the other two games on this homestand, the fourth quarter served as garbage time. Syracuse inched to 100 points, and the SU sideline — stocked with starters and rotation players — cheered on reserves en route to a third-straight victory.

“We had really good balance today,” Hillsman said. “We were able to play multiple players in positions and we got a lot of contributions.”

As the clock ticked under 10 seconds in the third quarter, Adila Gathers tossed the ball into the scorer’s table, the ball bouncing into the lap of a Syracuse employee, who flipped it to Hillsman. The 12-year head coach adjusted his jacket, caught the ball, and tossed it back.

Confused, the employee gave it to Hillsman who sent it back again. A referee pushed Hillsman’s arm and laughed. Hillsman obliged and handed the ball to the official, smiling as he walked back to the SU bench. With nine wins, two respectable true-road losses, and a top-15 ranking on the Orange’s resume, it’s hard not to joke around as Syracuse breezed through its easiest stretch of the season.

Published on December 17, 2018 at 1:00 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez