Orangewomen Return Home to Face Yale
1/5/2004 2:59:27 PM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Orangewomen play their first home game since a 62-54 win against Massachusetts on November 25, when they host Yale tonight at Manley Field House at 7 p.m.
SU hasn't played at home in a span of 41 days. Since its last home game, the Orangewomen have played at Hawaii, at George Washington, at Cornell, at #13/13 Colorado and at #24/23 Vanderbilt, travelling approximately 14,200 miles in that span.Tonight’s game is the make-up of the game originally scheduled for December 7. That contest was postponed because of inclement weather that prevented the Bulldogs from travelling.
Last time out, SU lost a close one at Vanderbilt, 61-52. The game was tied 49-49 with 3:40 left, but the Commodores closed the contest on a 12-3 run to take the victory. Senior guard Julie McBride scored a game-high 22 points to move into fourth place on the Orangewomen’s all-time scoring list with 1,334 career markers. McBride made four three-pointers to raise her career total to 203. She is just the third SU player, men’s or women’s, to reach the 200 mark. She trails only men’s leader Preston Shumpert (249) and women’s record holder Jaime James (226) in school history. Junior center Chineze Nwagbo snapped a two-game scoreless streak with eight points and a team-best eight rebounds. All six Orangewomen that played scored at least one field goal. Junioir Rochelle Coleman hit for eight points, while junior Sarah Wegrzynowicz and freshman Lauren Kohn each had six. Junior Krystalyn Ellerbe had two points in 20 minutes of work off the bench.
For the season, McBride is the only Orangewoman averaging in double figures. She is second in the BIG EAST in scoring at 18.9 points per contest. McBride also leads the team with 35 assists. She is the Orangewomen’s biggest threat from long range, connecting on 25-of-69 three-pointers, a 36.2 percent clip. Three other SU players are scoring at least seven points per game. Kohn is second on the team with an 8.2 scoring average. She also ranks second to McBride with 16 three-pointers. Coleman has raised her scoring average to 7.8 points per contest. She had her biggest game of the season at Colorado, tallying 22 points. Wegrzynowicz is fourth at 7.0 points per game. The third-year player saw limited playing time her first two seasons, but has started SU’s last six games, becoming a major contributor. Nwagbo is SU’s top rebounder at 5.6 boards per game.
Yale is searching for its first victory of the season. The Bulldogs are 0-9 in 2003-04 and have lost 11 straight dating back to last season. Tonight’s game is the first on a two-game, three-day trip for the Bulldgos. They play at Lafayette on Wednesday night.
Like the Orangewomen, Yale has one player scoring in double figures and three others with at least 7.0 points per game. Christina Phillips is the Bulldogs’ top scorer at 10.7 points per game. Eric Davis is second on the team with 8.9 points per contest and is Yale’s top rebounder, averaging 4.9 boards. Tonry Mauseth and Morgan Richards round out the top scorers at 7.7 and 7.2 points per contest, respectively. Mauseth has done the majority of her scoring from long distance. She leads the team with 17 three-pointers, accounting for 51 of her 69 points. She has just five field goals from inside the arc. Brynn Gingras has been the Bulldogs top distributor of the ball with 29 assists.
This is the first meeting between the Orangewomen and the Bulldogs in women’s basketball. Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki won his only meeting with Yale, a 71-68 win at Vermont in last year’s season-opener.
