Orangewomen Season Ends with Loss to Hurricanes
3/8/2003 9:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N. J. — The Syracuse women's basketball team was defeated by Miami, 77-64, Saturday night in the first round of The BIG EAST Tournament at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. With the loss, the Orangewomen end their season with a record of 10-18.
Three players scored in double-figures for Syracuse, led by sophomore guard Rochelle Coleman's (Burtonsville, Md./Paint Branch H.S.) 17 points. Coleman made three three-pointers to end 2002-03 with 70 makes from behind the arc, the third-most in Orangewomen history.
Junior forward Shannon Perry (Providence, R.I./LaSalle H.S.) recorded her 16th double-double of the season, scoring 15 points and snaring 11 rebounds. Perry also handed out a season-best six assists. Perry is now tied for third place on the all-time double-double list with 25. It was her fifth straight double-double, the third-best streak in Orangewomen history. Perry finished her junior campaign with a team-best 15.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. She is the first Orangewoman to average a double-double since Felisha Legette in 1985-86.
Junior guard Julie McBride (Mechanicville, N.Y./Catholic Central) scored 15 points and dished out five assists. She hit three three-point baskets and has now made 13 triples in her career at The BIG EAST Tournament, the most of any Orangewoman in the history of the program. She completed the year with 71 three-pointers and 178 assists, both second on the Syracuse single-season ledgers.
Syracuse opened the scoring with a lay-up from senior center Awa Diop (Colombes, France/Western Nebraska C.C.). The game took on a fevered pitch as the two teams traded baskets. After the first three minutes, the score was knotted at 7 apiece. The Orangewomen then seized control of the contest, going on a 12-5 run to take a 19-12 advantage with 13:53 to play. Again, the teams went back and forth, with Syracuse retaining a manageable margin of 27-23 with 8:04 to go. Miami (17-11) tied the score at 28 with 5:21 remaining and then outscored SU 15-5 to end the half with a ten-point lead 43-33.
Miami was able to hold onto their 10-point lead for the first 10 minutes of the second half, leading 60-50 with 10:23 to play. Syracuse refused to go away, however. They went on a 7-2 spurt, trimming the Miami lead to 62-57 at the 8:20 mark. That would be as close as the Orangewomen would get, however, as the Hurricanes scored the next six points to take a 68-57 lead with 5:31 to go. Miami closed the game by hitting clutch free throws to seal the victory and advance them into the quarterfinals of the conference tournament where they will face second-seeded Rutgers tomorrow evening.
Miami had four players in double-figures, led by Meghan Saake's game-high 22 points. Tamara James threw in 15 points and eight rebounds for the 'Canes.
