Until Thursday night, Syracuse’s offense had the fewest amount of turnovers per game in the Atlantic Coast Conference at 14.3.

Against Maryland, SU’s steady hand finally faltered. The Orange (12-5, 1-3 ACC) committed 21 turnovers against the Terrapins (12-1, 1-3 ACC), and the home team cruised to a 77-62 victory in front of 3,777 at the Comcast Center in College Park, Md.

ACC Preseason Player of the Year Alyssa Thomas finished with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds for Maryland, while freshman forward Brionna Jones added 18 points and 10 rebounds.

“We played tough, and the good part about the whole thing is that we got a chance to play our young kids for some vital minutes in a big atmosphere,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “But you don’t have moral victories, and a loss is a loss.”

But during stretches of the game, including the opening minutes, the unranked Orange was the dominant team. The Terrapins shot just 1-of-9 from the field to start the game, missing three wide-open 3s. On the other end, two 3s fell for Syracuse sharpshooter Brianna Butler.

The Orange took a 12-8 lead at the 13:36 mark on a Brittney Sykes layup.

Maryland then scored eight unanswered points to take a four-point lead at 16-12. That lead quickly ballooned to 38-19, as the Orange had already turned the ball over 12 times.

However, Butler and Rachel Coffey hit back-to-back 3s to cut the deficit to 38-24. The Orange went into the half on a 9-4 run, but Maryland led Syracuse 42-28.

“It is going to happen when you’re playing that way,” Hillsman said referring to SU’s turnovers in its half court offensive set. “We were just not doing a good job of making decisions and getting in the paint.”

In the second half, Syracuse slowly crept back into the game.

La’Shay Taft hit a wide open right wing 3 to cut the deficit to 46-33. Coffey hit a jumper from the free-throw line and Cornelia Fondren scored to pull the Orange to within 11 at 51-40.

SU outscored Maryland 12-9 to begin the second half.

But then Maryland went on an 8-1 run. Thomas hit a step-back jumper to extend the lead to 59-41, followed by a layup from Jones.

For the second straight game, Hillsman turned to freshman point guard Alexis Peterson for a spark. And when Peterson – who finished with a career-high 12 points – checked in, she delivered.

“They did an awesome job of just attacking and creating numbers,” Hillsman said of Peterson and fellow freshman Briana Day. “ … Those two kids are playing really very well. Once they get a full understanding of the game, they’re going to be tough.”

But when asked if he’s had any thoughts about inserting Peterson into the starting lineup in the near future, Hillsman said he hasn’t, and that he’s confident in point guards Coffey and Fondren.

Then Syracuse leading scorer Brittney Sykes scored two straight baskets to bring the score to 63-45, and Peterson converted a three-point play to bring the Orange closer at 63-48.

SU kept coming. Briana Day hit a turnaround hook shot, Peterson made a driving layup, a 3-pointer – only her second of the season –to cut the Orange deficit to 68-57.

After a free throw from Thomas, Day responded with two free throws of her own to bring SU to within 10 at 69-59.

But back-to-back jumpers from Maryland guard Brene Moseley prompted an 8-3 Terrapins run to close the game.

Syracuse’s top two scorers Butler and Sykes finished the game with only 23 points.

Said Hillsman: “I have no problem with those two kids. They’ve got to take shots. They’re going to have to force some action for us to win.”

Published on January 17, 2014 at 1:22 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu