Syracuse
vs
Washington
Day: Sunday
Date: April 3rd, 2016
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Time:8:30
Time:8:30
TV: ESPN2
Syracuse Orange Washington Huskies
4 Seed 29-7 7 Seed 26-10
OVERVIEW
Syracuse and Washington are both surprises to be in the Final Four. No doubt they have busted a few brackets!!!
Syracuse has been playing great basketball all season. Well, at least great basketball for the style they play. They have only really had one bad loss all season, 77-73 to a terrible North Carolina team. Their other 6 losses were to ranked (at the time) teams, Tennessee 57-55, Maryland 82-64, Arizona State 71-53, Louisville 61-54, Notre Dame twice 90-62 and 68-57 (in the ACC Final).
They beat several ranked (at the time) teams, Duke 86-50, Miami 57-51, Florida State 83-73, Louisville 80-75, and their big win in the NCAA tournament over South Carolina 80-72.
In the big win over South Carolina, Syracuse's three starting guards, Butler, Sykes and Peterson, led the way with 61 of their 80 points in winning that game.
Washington is the really big surprise in the final four as a 7 seed with 10 losses. One of their losses was to Syracuse 66-62 at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout held in Las Vegas. They should have put money on making the final four while they were there. Syracuse ran out to a big lead early and Washington made a game of it late, closing to one point with under four minutes remaining in the game. The Huskies had a tough period in the middle of the season, going 3-5 over an eight game stretch, losing to Stanford 69-53, Oregon State 61-53, Oregon 75-63, UCLA 63-59 and Arizona State 77-57. But since then they have gone 8-1, losing only to Oregon State 57-55 in the PAC12 tournament.
In the NCAA tournament, they have upset 2 seed Maryland 74-65, 3 seed Kentucky 85-72 and 4 seed Stanford 85-76.
Comparative Team Statistic
Leader in Bold
Syracuse Washington
72.9 PPG 71.8
59.6 Defensive PPG 62.8
59.6 Defensive PPG 62.8
13.3 Scoring Margin 9.0
37.3 Field Goal % 41.6
39.4 Defensive FG% 36.5
39.4 Defensive FG% 36.5
29.6 Three Point % 33.7
28.9 Defensive 3PT% 30.8
67.2 Free Throw % 78.028.9 Defensive 3PT% 30.8
40.5 Rebounds/game 39.1
- .9 Rebounding Margin +.7
13.1 Assists per game 11.8
13.9 Turnover per game 12.6
.9 Assists/TO ratio .9
12.8 Steals per game 7.3
4.8 Blocks per game 3.6
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Syracuse
Head Coach
Quinten Hillsman
Now in his 10th season as head coach, Quentin Hillsman has transformed the Syracuse Women’s Basketball program into a predominate national program. Hillsman has led the Orange to seven consecutive postseason appearances, including three straight NCAA berths, 13 postseason victories and seven straight winning seasons, while winning 63 percent of his games.
Syracuse Starters
5'7" Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
35 Games - MPG 32.0, FG% .417, 3PT% .321 PPG 16.1 RPG 2.7, APG 4.7, 77 steals, 2 blocks
5'11" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
36 Games - MPG 30.6, FG% .317, 3PT% .312, PPG 13.6, RPG 3.7, APG 1.5, 58 steals, 8 blocks
50 Bria Day
6'4" Junior Center
2015-16 Stats
36 Games - MPG 22.7, FG% .513, 3PT% .000, PPG 10.0, RPG 7.9, APG .3, 51 steals, 75 blocks
20 Brittney Sykes
5'9" RS Junior Guard
2015-16 Stats
36 Games - MPG 29.2, FG% .348, 3PT% .226, PPG 10.0, RPG 5.2, APG 1.67, 75 steals, 21 blocks
Syracuse Bench
2015-16 Stats
22 Taylor Ford
6' Senior Forward
11 Cornelia Fondren
5'8" Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
36 Games - MPG 26.5, FG% .421, 3PT% .167, PPG 7.0, RPG 5.6, APG 3.3, 91 steals, 9 blocks
04 Maggie Morrison
5'8" RS Senior Guard
2015-16 Stats
35 Games - MPG 14.9, FG% .342, 3PT% .333, PPG 5.5, RPG 1.7, APG 1.0, 35 steals, 2 blocks
6' Senior Forward
2015-16 Stats
36 Games - MPG 11.1, FG% .319, 3PT% .271, PPG 3.5, RPG 2.3, APG .2, 19 steals, 2 blocks
55 Bria Day
6'4" Junior Center
2015-16 Stats
35 Games - MPG 11.8, FG% .482, 3PT% .000, PPG 2.1, RPG 3.5, APG .1, 13 steals, 36 blocks
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WASHINGTON
Head Coach
Mike Neighbors
Mike Neighbors enters his third season as the head coach at Washington and fifth with the Huskies overall. He was promoted to head coach on April 21, 2013. He had previously worked as the top assistant coach for two seasons with the Huskies.
Washington Starters
10 Kelsey Plum
5'8" Junior Guard
2015-16: MPG 38.2, FG% .408, 3PT% .338, PPG 26.2, RPG 3.8, APG 4.2, 58 steals, 8 blocks
03 Talia Walton
6'2" RS Senior Forward
2015-16: MPG 36.9, FG% .420, 3PT% .341, PPG 162., RPG 6.6, APG 1.6, 75 steals, 26 blocks
00 Chantel Osahor
6'2" Junior Forward/Center
2015-16: MPG 31.7, FG% .483, 3PT% .361, PPG 10.3, RPG 11.2, APG 3.4, 42 steals, 24 blocks
13 Katie Collier
6'3" RS Junior Forward/Center
2015-16: MPG 27.3, FG% .459, 3PT% .000, PPG 6.0, RPG 5.5, APG .5, 15 steals, 40 blocks
22 Alexus Atchley
5'9" Senior Guard
2015-16: MPG 27.6, FG% .405, 3PT% .407, PPG 5.1, RPG 3.1 APG 1.2, 27 steals, 4 blocks
Washington Bench
Washington Bench
11 Mathide Gilling
6'3" Senior Forward/Center
2015-16: MPG 11.9, FG% .567, 3PT% .167, PPG 2.6, RPG 1.9, APG .2, 12 steals, 8 block
20 Kelli Kingma
5'8" Sophomore Guard
2015-16: MPG 8.3, FG% .324, 3PT% .333, PPG 1.6, RPG .5, APG .1, 10 steals, 0 block
Game Analysis
This should be an interesting matchup.
You have Syracuse, who has won 29 games, but if you look at their team stats, you wonder how the heck do they do it. They are not a very good shooting team. They are only 37.3% from the field and 29.6% on threes. So, they must be a very good defensive team. Well, they allow opponents to shoot 39.7% from field, not exactly lock down defense. They must rebound like demons, right? Well, they grab 40 per game, but they allow 41. Hmmm....
What they do is play 8-9 and sometimes 10 players, and they have to because they play a pressing defense that morphs into their zone. It's really impressive. They play it with reckless abandon. They have forced an amazing 24 turnovers per game. That is a +11. They rattle their opponents into mistakes and take advantage of it.
They also shoot a LOT of three pointers. They don't make a good percentage, but they seem to hit them when they need to.
The Orange is led by point guard Alexis Peterson, who is one tough cookie. She averages 16 ppg and 4.7 assists. She controls the team like a coach on the court and really is an extension both tactically and emotionally of Coach Hillsman. She loves to drive to the basket and is willing to take contact and finish. One of the top point guards in the country.
Brianna Butler is the designated shooter on this team averaging 10 threes taken per game. That is crazy! She will shoot from anywhere on the court and has a very quick release. The problem is that she only makes around 31% of those threes. She was really hot against Tennessee. She will need to do that again against Washington.
There is not much size on Syracuse and the Day twins are it. Bria is the more talented player and she starts and gets more minutes than her sister Briana. But between them, they average a double double. But they will have their hands full with the Washington size.
I like to watch Brittany Sykes play. She is another tough player and loves to drive to the basket. But she is not much of an offensive threat.
What you will notice is that because of the pressure defense, every Syracuse player has a good nmber of steals. They press, press and press. And they pressure almost the every possession. They have to as they just don't shoot well enough to win games. When they do have a good shooting game, they win big, like against Duke and more recently, the Tennessee game.
Washington is just the opposite. They do play a zone, but it's more a passive 2-3. They do that because the really only play 6 players and don't be surprised of the Huskies play four starters 40 minutes each.
The star of this team and the second best player still in the tournament not on UConn is Kelsey Plum. Averaging 26+ points per game, the 5'8" point guard is a handful to guard. She has great moves to the basket. I love her hesitation and blow by move. She sucks the player in and then whoosh....gone! And she can hit the three pointer at a decent percentage. She averaged an amazing 38 minutes per game. I wouldn't worry about her tiring out. She has been playing long minutes all season. I would bet she is in amazing condition.
Where Washington has a big advantage is well....being big. Talia Walton is a good sized 6'2" player who is the second leading scorer for Washington, averaging 16 ppg. She is a terrific rebounder and defender in the post but can also step out and hit the three pointer at a decent clip.
One of the most unusual players in the tournament has been Washington's big center Chantel Osahor. At 6'2" and a big body, she can post up with anyone. She has very mature post moves once she gets the ball. And boy, can she pass the ball. It's not often you see a big player like her average over 3 assists per game. Not only that, with her 121 assists on the season, she only has 69 turnovers. One other thing. She is shooting 36.1% on threes and it is a true set shot. If you play off of her just a little bit, she will surprise you with just letting it fly from behind the arc without hesitation. If you haven't seen her play, you are in for a treat.
So, how will they play each other. Well, Syracuse needs to turn Washington over, early and often. They will press and pressure for the entire shot clock looking for the Huskies to make mistakes and score off of the turnovers. They will take probably 30+ three pointers and hope to make at least 30% of them.
Washington will stay in their zone, allowing Syracuse to shoot those threes. They will try to use their size to dominate the boards and get second chances. Plum will be the scoring machine she has been all season but she will also look for post entry passes to take advantage of their bigger players.
Final Prediction
This game will be decided by who executes their game plan best. If Syracuse can force 20+ turnovers and hit 35% of their threes they will win. If Washington can hold on to the ball and stay out of foul trouble, they can win this game.
So, who will do what?
I hate to say it (not a Syracuse fan) but I think the short bench will really hurt Washington in this game. Syracuse's press will really give the Huskies problems.
76-66, Syracuse
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