Orangewomen Defeat Pittsburgh to Clinch Conference Tournament Berth
3/1/2003 9:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y.—The Syracuse women's basketball team defeated Pittsburgh 71-61 Saturday evening in front of 798 fans at Manley Field House. With the victory, Syracuse improves to 10-16 and 5-10 in the BIG EAST. The Panthers are now 11-15 and 3-12 in conference play.
Three players scored in double figures for the Orangewomen who clinched a spot in The BIG EAST Conference Tournament with the victory.
Syracuse took control of the game from the beginning. They scored eight of the game's first nine points and held a 16-4 lead with 13:57 to play in the first half. Junior forward April Jean (Sacramento, Calif./Coffeyville C.C.) scored eight of her team-high 20 points during that six-minute span. The Orangewomen took their biggest lead of the half, 25-10, with 8:37 to play. Pittsburgh answered with a 15-7 run of its own to end the half and trim SU's lead to 32-25 at the break.
The Orangewomen went on a 12-2 run to open the second half. Junior guard Julie McBride (Mechanicville, N.Y./Catholic Central) connected on a pair of three-point shots and scored six of her 18 points during the three minute burst that gave Syracuse their largest lead of the night, 44-27 with 17:23 to play.
Pittsburgh responded with a 24-9 run over the next nine minutes to trim SU's lead to 53-51 with 8:28 showing on the clock. McBride hit her third three-pointer of the half less than a minute later to put the Orangewomen up 56-51. The teams traded baskets for the next few minutes. Pittsburgh got as close as 62-58 with 2:14 to play. Less than a minute later, sophomore guard Rochelle Coleman (Burtonsville, Md./Paint Branch H.S.) hit her second three-pointer of the contest out of the deep left corner to give the Orange a 65-58 lead. Syracuse scored six of the game's last nine points to provide the final margin
Junior guard Shannon Perry (Providence, R.I./LaSalle H.S.) notched her 14th double-double of the season, scoring 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Senior center Awa Diop (Colombes, France/Western Nebraska C.C.), who started her first game in more than a month, responded by scoring a career-high eight points in a career-high 28 minutes. She also snared a career-best seven rebounds.
McBride is the first player in Orangewomen history to score 400 points in consecutive seasons. She scored 461 points last year and now has 417 this season. McBride's four three-point field goals also tied a career-high. Coleman scored six points and dished out a career-high seven assists.
Syracuse concludes their regular season on Tuesday, March 4th at 7 p.m. when the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame come into Manley Field House.
