Orangewomen to Face Defending Ivy Champs
11/21/2002 2:03:58 PM | Women's Basketball
The Orangewomen will try to rebound from its season-opening loss at Siena when they travel to Harvard on Friday, Novmeber 22. Tip-off is slated for 6 p.m. The season-opening loss was the first for SU since losing at seventh-ranked North Carolina to begin the 1998-99 campaign.
The tandem of juniors Julie McBride and Shannon Perry combined for 31 points and 16 rebounds. McBride led the squad with 17 points and nine assists, while Perry put up her 10th career double-double with 14 points and a team-best 11 rebounds. Sophomore Rochelle Coleman was the only other SU player in double figures, scoring a career-best 15 points. All of Coleman’s points came in the second half. Junior April Jean and freshman Tierra Jackson each scored eight points in their Syracuse debuts.
Perry's team-high 11 rebounds at Siena ran her career total to 406. She is the 20th player in school history to record at least 400 career rebounds. Despite standing just 5-8, Perry led the Orangewomen in rebounding last season with a 6.6 per game average. She averaged 7.3 rebounds per game as a freshman in 1999-2000.
Harvard, the defending Ivy League champion and a 2002 NCAA Tournament participant, is playing its first regular-season game of the 2002-03 campaign versus the Orangewomen. The Crimson were victorious in their exhibition game, defeating Istrobanka (Slovakia), 76-65, on November 12. Junior Hana Peljto led the squad with 30 points and 14 rebounds. She shot 12-of-25 from the floor. Freshman forward Maureen McCaffery also had a double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench.
The Orangewomen are unbeaten in two previous meetings versus Harvard. Last season, SU came away with a 78-66 victory at Manley Field House. McBride had 16 points and handed out seven assists in the victory for SU. Peljto led the Crimson with a double-double of 23 points and 11 rebounds. Last year’s game was the first meeting between the schools since February 20, 1981, a 68-54 Syracuse win at Manley Field House. This is the Orangewomen’s first-ever trip to Harvard.
The last time SU started a season with consecutive losses was in 1996-97 when the Orangewomen lost to North Carolina State and Arizona State at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico.
