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No. 22 Syracuse overcame a sluggish start to defeat Penn State 82-72 and improve to 3-0 on the season. The Orange forced a season-high 24 turnovers, including 10 in a second half that SU led entirely. 

Digna Strautmane led the Orange with four blocks and an efficiency of 23, and she added three steals to pace SU in transition. Kiara Lewis added five. 

Here were the biggest takeaways from SU’s third win to start the 2020-21 season:

Keep them in front

Neither side shot particularly well — the Orange just 38.0% and the Lady Lions 36.8% — but Penn State had even less success when forced to shoot over the defense. 

That hadn’t been an issue until the 3:46 mark in the second quarter. Syracuse was just 8-for-36 from deep, providing little opportunity to set up typical full-court pressure. The Lady Lions capitalized in transition and grew the lead all the way to 32-18 by way of an open layup and two open 3s. 

Syracuse’s best defensive possession came with just under four minutes to play in the half, culminating in a Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi block and shot-clock violation. The Lady Lions didn’t hit another 3-pointer — or any shot for that matter — the rest of the half. 

Lewis was actively putting pressure on both ends of the floor, forcing two steals in the first half that led to layups. In the second half, she denied her opponent the lane at the top of the key, and another steal led to two points for the Orange. She finished with four steals to go with a game-high 26 points. The Orange forced 24 turnovers total.

Digna Strautmane does it all

Strautmane was an integral part of SU’s 15-0 run that put the Orange ahead toward the end of the first half. Her three steals and four blocks at the back of SU’s 1-2-2 full-court pressure prevented Penn State from racing past the Orange as they’d done most of the first half. 

On the offensive end, she finished with 14 points and provided SU with its best option from beyond the arc, shooting 2-for-6 from 3. 

Strautmane’s all-around play in the second half helped the Orange extend their lead. She was the first defender back down the floor following her second 3-pointer of the day, and she blocked a layup, which led to more transition points. Later, she made a one-handed snag off a baseline pass, and Lewis took the outlet pass back up the floor for another scoring opportunity.

She also added eight rebounds, giving her a team-high player efficiency (23) that paced Syracuse in the second half.

Digna Strautmane shot 2-for-6 from 3 and recorded 14 points against Penn State. Courtesy of Mark Konezny | USA TODAY Sports

Emily Engstler returns

Junior Emily Engstler made her first appearance of the season after sitting the first two games for SU. 

SU’s second-leading scorer from a season ago made her presence felt right away when a rebound led to two passes and a layup on the other end. 

She finished tied second on the team with eight rebounds despite only playing one half of basketball. Her final board staved off the last of PSU’s pushes, and Djaldi-Tabdi finished the layup on the other end to put Syracuse up 73-67, a margin it wouldn’t relinquish. 

Engstler struggled on the offensive end, going just 1-for-5 from the field. However, the difference in her ability to play end-to-end from last year was apparent, as Engstler added one steal to SU’s 12 total.

Published on December 6, 2020 at 4:47 pm

Contact Tim: tnolan@syr.edu