Orangewomen Play Cornell in Final Non-Conference Game
1/2/2003 2:04:07 PM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orangewomen basketball team will play its final non-conference game of the season when they host the Cornell Big Red at 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 2. Syracuse is 4-6 after a 78-75 overtime loss to 25th-ranked Colorado on New Year’s Eve. Despite the loss, the Orangewomen have won four of their last six games. Cornell is 4-4 on the season.
Junior Shannon Perry recorded her eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 25 points and 11 rebounds versus the Buffaloes. Sophomore Rochelle Coleman scored 22 points, including six in the overtime. Junior Julie McBride and freshman Tierra Jackson also scored in double figures with 11 and 10 points, respectively. McBride also led the Orangewomen with eight assists. SU overcame an early 11-point deficit to take a six-point lead late in the second half, but Colorado was able to knot the score at 65-65 at the end of regulation. The Buffaloes outscored the Orangewomen, 13-10, in the extra session.
Coleman and Perry have paced the Orangewomen offense the last three games, averaging 21.0 and 19.3 points per game respectively. Coleman has the first two 20-point games of her career in the last three games with 25 against Vermont and 22 versus Colorado. Perry has back-to-back 20-point games and has scored in double figures in all 10 of the Orangewomen’s games. Overall, Perry leads the team with a 17.3 scoring average and 11.5 rebounds per game. Coleman is third on the team with 13.8 points per game. McBride is the team’s second-leading scorer with 15.2 points per game. She also leads the Orangewomen with 6.8 assists per game.
Since a 1-3 start, the Big Red have won three of their last four, including a 64-43 win versus Lafayette on December 21.
Three players scored in double figures versus the Leopards led by Karen Force and Lauren Kilduff’s 13 points. Lynell Davis chipped in with 10 points. The Big Red forced the Leopards into 37 turnovers, including 22 in the first half. Cornell also limited Lafayette to just four field goals in the final 14 minutes of the first half.
Force is the Big Red’s leading scorer so far this season, averaging 14.0 points per game. She is also the team leader in assists (36) and steals (17). Davis is averaging 11.8 points per game and is the Big Red’s leading rebounder at 8.4 boards per contest. Katie Romey rounds out Cornell’s double-digit scorers. She is averaging 11.1 points per contest and is the squad’s biggest threat from three-point range, hitting 15 triples so far this season.
The Orangewomen lead the all-time series with Cornell, 8-2. Syracuse has won eight straight meetings, but the two teams have not played since November 26, 1985. SU won that contest, 94-65, which was played at the Carrier Dome. Syracuse also faced the Big Red in the Carrier Dome on November 29, 1983. This is the Big Red’s first trip to Manley Field House since a 74-33 Syracuse win on December 11, 1979. The series has featured several blowouts. Cornell defeated SU 64-24 in the first meeting in 1973. Syracuse has two 41-point wins and a 55-point victory. In SU’s eight wins versus Cornell, the average margin of victory is 28 points.
