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Najé Murray started Thursday night’s game cold from deep, on defense and in the paint. When she tried to break up a pass down low in the opening minute of the game, Miami quickly regained possession. On her first three 3-point attempts, she clanked the shots off the rim, but after working through some of her uglier possessions, the guard began showcasing play similar to her last two performances.

By the middle of the second quarter, she was dialed in. Murray grabbed a rebound from a missed layup and sprinted up the court. The Orange needed a bucket to keep pace with the Hurricanes in a game separated by just two possessions at the time. Once she reached Syracuse’s free-throw line, she pulled up, leading to her defender stumbling far enough away to give Murray enough space to drain her jump shot.

Murray finished the first half with 12 points, leading Syracuse (9-11, 2-8 Atlantic Coast) despite never leading against Miami (12-8, 5-5 ACC). The performance continued a recent spurt of success for Murray, who had fallen off statistically after contracting COVID-19 at the end of December. By mimicking her play against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, Murray ensured Syracuse had a chance in the final minutes against Miami.

“You have some games like that where you go through it a little bit, but (Murray) can come out and score 25 points in a game,” acting head coach Vonn Read said in January.

The sharpshooter transfer went through a slump in the games following her return, going three straight games without reaching double figures. She blamed herself for her poor shooting performances, especially during the six-game stretch where she didn’t shoot over 25% from deep. “COVID isn’t making me miss those shots,” Murray said earlier. But Read said that during the Boston College game, she had asked for numerous breathers and was having a difficult time getting back to playing condition.

Over Syracuse’s recent stretch of games, including the first half against Miami, Murray seems to have returned to the potent weapon Read advertised prior to the season. In the second quarter, Murray maneuvered her way down to the far right corner. Chrislyn Carr surveyed the court and realized the guard was all alone and rifled a chest pass over to Murray, who quickly turned her shoulders and swished in a 3.

“At this point in my career, I’m only taking the good shot,” Murray said prior to the season.

The fifth-year notched her 1,000th career point against Central Connecticut State earlier in the season and entered the game against Miami averaging 5.5 attempts from 3-point range. At the end of the first quarter against the Hurricanes, she’d already attempted six and made three of the shots. Murray ended with one more 3-pointer in the second half, finishing 4-for-9 on shots from deep.

But at the two minute mark in the third quarter, a Miami player threw the ball at Murray, prompting a small scrum between players on either side. That’s when Murray stepped over Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi and started yelling with another Hurricanes player. After the referees reviewed the sequence, they issued her two intentional fouls, leading to Murray’s ejection.

Read said the team responded well to the ejection of someone they consider their leader, storming back to cut a 16-point deficit to just one point while Murray watched from the locker room underneath the Watsco Center. Syracuse shot just 2-of-8 on 3-pointers in the final quarter without Murray, and Christianna Carr had to step in at the top of the zone to replace the guard.

“Just from day one I knew Najé was a leader,” Read said earlier this season of Murray. “The players follow her because they know that she’s about the team.”

But back in the second quarter, right after Murray hit the wide-open corner 3, she shuffled back in transition, slotting herself at the center of Syracuse’s 1-2-2 zone utilized in full-court press situations. On a pass across the court, she swatted the ball out of bounds, leading to another quick possession for Syracuse.

Murray routinely battled down low against Miami, a team that leaned on 6-foot-4 Djaldi-Tabdi off the bench as an extra weapon inside. She and Chrislyn frequently thwarted off much taller Hurricanes players for long rebounds or slapped dribbles away down low to disrupt close-range attempts, ending the night with four rebounds.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Alaysia Styles battled down low, working around her defender before opting to look to the outer arc. Settled on the free-throw line extended behind the arc was Murray, who pulled up from deep for her fourth 3-pointer of the night.

“I know what’s the right shot; I know the timely shot,” Murray said earlier this season. “I think that my teammates know when I’m going to shoot it.”

Published on February 3, 2022 at 10:44 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt