In a microcosm of 40 dismal minutes Thursday, the Virginia women’s basketball team (13-12, 3-8 ACC) cracked twice in a row under Syracuse’s full-court pressure and let the Orange jump out to a 7-0 lead less than one minute into the first quarter.
“We came out and really just took a punch,” Coach Joanne Boyle said. “You know, they do a great job. They’re a pressing team. They press for 30 minutes. Like other teams we turned it over, but they were able to capitalize. We really turned it over in bunches.”
Syracuse senior guard Brianna Butler, who opened the game with an and-one layup, embraced her inner Steph Curry. The 2011-2012 McDonald’s All-American went 6-of-6 from beyond the arc on her way to 23 first-half points. Butler didn’t add another tally to her name but still led all scorers by the final buzzer. She entered Thursday’s contest shooting 29.9 percent from three and averaging 13.3 points per game.
“I think early on [Butler] just got a lot of open looks,” junior guard Breyana Mason said. “She’s a good shooter, so she knocked them down. And once you get in a rhythm as a shooter, the basket gets wider and wider. …When we started to slow her down and get a hand in her face, the damage had already been done.”
By the halfway point, Virginia trailed 30-57 on its home court. Syracuse (19-6, 9-3 ACC) had converted 12 Cavalier turnovers into uncontested buckets, which bolstered its field-goal percentage up to 57.6, well above its season average of 35.6 percent. Apart from an 18-18 rebounding split, the first 20 minutes had transpired exactly as coach Boyle feared they might.
“They are a pressing team, so we’ve got to be able to take care of the ball,” Boyle said. “If we will really own the rebounding piece of the game — both ends of the floor — and take care of the ball, we’re going to be in a good situation. If we don’t do those things, then it’s going to be a long day for us.”
It will come as no surprise to those fans who started filing out of John Paul Jones Arena during the second and third quarters that the Cavaliers went on to lose 57-91 Thursday. Unable to get the Orange out of its press even in the later stages of the game, Virginia finished with 23 turnovers and just seven assists.
The burden to carry a futile Cavalier offense still on her shoulders, sophomore point guard Mikayla Venson turned in another uncharacteristic performance Thursday. Though she led Virginia with 16 points, Venson did so on 5-of-14 shooting and recorded only one dish. Sophomore forward Aliyah Huland El and Mason added 15 and 12, respectively, but the Cavaliers shot 37.3 percent from the floor compared to Syracuse’s 52.5.
A long heart-to-heart talk ensued between Boyle and her dejected group in the locker room before she, Mason and Huland El addressed the media. The press conference was perhaps more painful to watch than the game itself. Boyle buried her face in her hands, while her two players stared weary-eyed at the back wall.
“I mean I told them I’m trying to find the words,” Boyle said. “I haven’t been in this spot myself so just trying to find the words of encouragement, but at the same time, we have lost our identity. …I think we’re all on our own page right now, and it’s not a good look.”
After dropping its sixth straight contest, Virginia sinks further and further into irrelevancy. What could have been following an 11-4 start is no more. At present, the Cavaliers are missing more than senior guard Faith Randolph. They lack toughness and cohesion on both ends of the court. They appear totally unprepared even after three, four or even five days of preparation.
“On the court, as a player you see a lot of things,” Mason said. “I’m not exactly sure why they are happening. We prepared well in practice, we do well in practice and then we come out and do things a little differently, I guess not being confident enough in what we are doing or what the coaches are telling us to do.”
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