Syracuse trounces Canisius 96-72 in highest-scoring performance of season
Syracuse's offense, including Shy Hawkins' six points, exploded to its highest-scoring game of the season in its win over Canisius Tuesday, moving to 3-0. Eli Schwartz | Staff Photographer
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When reconstructing Syracuse women’s basketball roster this offseason, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack prioritized defense over everything.
The Orange allowed 71.4 points per game last season, ranking 318th of 362 Division I teams in that category, per HerHoopStats. At Atlantic Coast Conference Tipoff on Oct. 6, Legette-Jack said she emphasized bringing in players who wanted to defend.
It showed through two games against lower-quality opponents in Stony Brook and UAlbany. Tuesday’s opponent, Canisius, entered its matchup with SU as one of the worst offensive teams in D-I, averaging under 40 points per game. It had all the makings of another game where the Orange could dominate defensively.
Instead, Syracuse’s defense was exploited for 72 points — by far the most it’s allowed in a game all season. Nonetheless, the Orange got the job done on the other end.
Syracuse (3-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) took down Canisius (0-3, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic) 96-72 for its third straight win, backed by a season-high 53.6% field goal percentage. The Orange were led by Laila Phelia’s season-high 22 points, while Dominique Darius pitched in a new career-high with 21 and Uche Izoje tallied 17.
Still, the 24-point win — and one of Syracuse’s best offensive performances under Legette-Jack — wasn’t the main thing on the team’s mind at the end.
“I think that we can score the ball, but I concentrate on defense,” Legette-Jack said. “Them giving up that many points bothers me more than anything.”
“It’s great that we scored that many points as we did, but we need to be better at not allowing as many points because, when we play better teams, we gotta be a little more disciplined and we gotta take more pride on that end of the floor,” Darius added.
It wasn’t necessarily due to lack of effort. The Golden Griffins entered the game as one of the nation’s least-efficient offenses, scoring 39.5 points per game on just 26% from the field. They caught fire on Tuesday, shooting 52.2% from the field and 50% from 3 on 14 attempts.
One of the only things that made the win comfortable for the Orange was their first-quarter offense.
Syracuse allowed the first bucket — which marked Canisius’ first time leading a game all season — before two Darius free throws tied it up. From there, the Orange dominated the rest of the first quarter.
It began with back-to-back steals that resulted in a Phelia jumper and a Darius layup. Phelia took over with three consecutive buckets, including an and-1, to cap a 13-0 Syracuse run and force a Golden Griffins timeout.
Canisius’ Shariah Gailes sank two 3-pointers in the frame, but Syracuse dominated from inside the arc. The Orange didn’t attempt a 3 in the first quarter, but they didn’t need to. They totaled 20 points in the paint and forced 13 turnovers, which resulted in 22 points the other way. The Orange also shot 80% from the field on their first 20 attempts. It culminated in a 32-11 lead at the end of the frame.
“Coach Jack has great sets for us to run, it opens up shots for our shooters, opens up drives for us as guards, it gives us post looks,” Darius said. “So there’s always these different options that we can take advantage of.”
Canisius began to heat up in the second quarter, though. The Golden Griffins scored 23 of their 34 first-half points in the frame — the most the Orange have allowed in a half this season.
SU cooled down to close the half, missing its last seven field goals of the frame. Still, it led 53-34.
While Syracuse’s offense did enough to mask its flaws defensively, the Orange still struggled to contain Canisius early in the third quarter. After the Golden Griffins scored on their second possession, Legette-Jack quickly called a timeout. It still couldn’t stop the bleeding.
“I had to call that timeout because I had to reset who we were and who we were trying to become,” Legette-Jack said. “They got the message, and we knew that we were going to stop the bleeding.”
Canisius eclipsed the 40-point mark for the first time all season with seven-and-a-half minutes to play in the third. They’d shot 60.7% from the field and 60% from 3 at that time, while Gailes led the Golden Griffins with 15 points.
Canisius again won the third quarter, outscoring Syracuse 21-19. The Orange missed their final five field goals of the frame before Izoje sank a buzzer-beating layup. The Golden Griffins hit five of their last seven shots but still trailed by 17.
“I was being a stubborn coach for a bit and didn’t want to come out of our player-to-player (defense),” Legette-Jack said. “They forced that hand as well. So kudos to them, they made us make some decisions.”
Canisius pulled within 13 after a Gailes and-1 with nine minutes remaining, but that was the closest it got.
With every blow Syracuse took defensively, it delivered one the other way. Phelia knocked down two free throws before Darius teed up Journey Thompson for an easy layup. It helped the Orange eclipse their previous season-high of 74 points with over eight minutes left.
The Orange cruised the rest of the way. Darius picked up two points at the line before slashing through the lane for a layup. Phelia converted an and-1 right after for her first 20-point game since March 2024. Then Sophie Burrows nailed her first 3-pointer of the season to extend the lead to 23 and force a Canisius timeout.
It was an advantage the Orange never relinquished. They outscored Canisius 24-17 in the fourth quarter, cruising to a 24-point win.
Still, it’s one of Syracuse’s more unhappy 96-point performances. Legette-Jack and her squad know they need to defend better going forward. On Tuesday, the Orange made up for it on the other end by shooting the lights out.
It may not be a sustainable way of winning games, but while the Orange are still ironing things out in nonconference play, they’ll take the wins any way they can get them.
