Syracuse women’s basketball loses to Boston College 91-75 on senior day

Syracuse Orange women’s basketball ended the regular season with another crushing loss, this time in 91-75 fashion to the Boston College Eagles on Sunday afternoon at the Carrier Dome on senior day in a game it never led.

The Orange finish the regular season with an 11-17 record and 4-14 mark in conference play.

It was Syracuse’s fourth straight loss of 15 or more points. For the second time in about 16 hours, it got late awfully early in the Dome. The Eagles used a similar approach to Duke on the men’s side, dominating the Orange inside and out to build an insurmountable early lead.

Boston College gave Syracuse a reality check with a 95-71 thrashing in Chestnut Hill in early January. The Orange have only won three games since then, and Sunday’s beating proved to be even worse, even though Syracuse rallied to make the final score look a lot more respectable than it was.

The Eagles scored 11 of the game’s first 13 points and led 21-5 with four minutes left in the first period. The Orange briefly settled the ship, with Chrislyn Carr hitting two threes to make it a 28-14 after ten minutes,

Maria Gakdeng, Taylor Soule, and Cameron Swartz were among the Eagles who inflicted the most punishment on Syracuse in the first 20 minutes. Schwartz splashed a three to make it a 40-16 game with 6:51 left in the half. Gakdeng and Soule did plenty of damage inside, with the former scoring to make it 49-18 with inside three minutes left.

BC used a 21-4 run over the first seven minutes of the second quarter to put more than enough distance between itself and a Syracuse team that continues to struggle on offense. Again, a Syracuse team was trailing by 30 before the first half was over.

Frustrations boiled over for Chrislyn Carr, who committed an offensive foul in the closing seconds of the half. Gakdeng scored on the subsequent possession to make it 58-24 at the half and put the finishing touches on a 30-point quarter.

The Eagles shot 23-for-37 from the floor and 9-of-15 from three. The Orange haven’t been a good defensive team this season, but when you shoot 22 percent from the floor compared to 62 percent from your opponent, you have absolutely no chance.

No miracle comeback was in the offing for the overmatched Orange, who started four seniors (Alaysia Styles, Christianna and Chrislyn Carr, and Naje Murray) who are likely all playing their final home game. Jayla Thornton, sidelined since the early season, was the fifth senior honored before the game.

BC grabbed its largest lead of the game at 62-26 with 8:07 left in the third quarter. The Eagles finally came back to earth in the third, scoring only 15 points. A layup from Styles made it a 73-45 contest going into the fourth.

Syracuse finally found something from the field in the last ten minutes and began to whittle down the lead. It was too little too late, but a three from Chrislyn Carr made it a 78-65 game with 4:25 left, and a score from Teisha Hyman cut it to 80-69 with three minutes left.

Maybe there was an ounce of hope the Orange could pull off the 30-point comeback you see in the NBA every once in a while, but BC quickly snuffed that out. The Eagles scored the next six points to make it 86-69 with just over a minute left.

Syracuse finished the day at 38 percent from the field and 7-of-25 from three. The Orange did make all 12 of their foul shots.

Hyman had a game-high 22 points on an 8-for-19 shooting night. She added seven rebounds and six steals to fill the stat sheet yet again.

Chrislyn Carr had 20, Styles had 11, Christianna Carr added 10, and Naje Murray finished with six on their senior days.

Boston College, who came into the game in the “Last Four in” section of ESPN’s bracketology, got a very balanced attack, putting four players in double figures. Swartz led the Eagles with 20, Soule had 16, Gakdeng added 14, and Makayla Dickens finished with 12.

The Eagles held a 52-38 advantage over the Orange in the paint and finished with 28 assists on 38 made field goals.

The Orange will make the trip down to Greensboro for the first round of the ACC Tournament. As it stands, Syracuse is the 12-seed and is in line for a matchup against Clemson in the opening game.