Orangewomen Open BIG EAST Schedule at Pittsburgh
1/6/2004 1:52:14 PM | Women's Basketball
The Syracuse women's basketball team will play its first BIG EAST game of the season on Wednesday, January 7 at Pittsburgh. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. The Orangewomen are 3-7, while the Panthers are 4-7 overall and 0-1 in the conference. SU is 10-11 all-time in BIG EAST openers.
The Orangewomen are trying to stop a five-game losing streak after a 70-54 loss to Yale on January 5. It is SU’s longest losing skid since a seven-game slide to end the 1999-2000 season. Three players scored in double figures against the Bulldogs led by freshman Lauren Kohn’s career-high 18 points. All of Kohn’s points came on a career-best six three-pointers. Junior center Chineze Nwagbo notched a season-high 14 points on 6-of-10 from the floor. She also tied for team honors with six rebounds. Junior Rochelle Coleman rounded out the top scorers with 13 points, her second double-digit effort in three games. She also had six rebounds. Senior guard Julie McBride was held without a field goal for the first time in her career (96 games), scoring one point. She had her school-record streak of games with at least one three-pointer stopped at 37. McBride did reach a career milestone, however. She dished out a season-best eight assists to give her 503 for her career. She is the third Orangewoman ever to reach the 500 mark and the first to reach that milestone and score at least 1,300 points. SU committed a season-low seven turnovers, but a bad shooting night doomed the Orangewomen. Syracuse shot 30.8 percent for the game (20-of-65) and just 18.8 percent from three-point range (6-of-32). The Bulldogs countered with a 56.5 percent shooting percentage (26-of-46), making 63.6 percent of their long-distance attempts (7-of-11).
Despite the career-low output, McBride is still the squad’s leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, fifth-best in the BIG EAST. She also leads the team with 43 assists and has made a team-best 25 three-pointers. Kohn is SU’s second-leading scorer at 9.2 points per contest. Since entering the starting lineup against Hawaii, Kohn has averaged 10.6 points a game in her seven starts. Coleman is the Orangewomen’s third-best scorer at 8.3 points per game. She has picked up the pace in her last three games, averaging 14.3 points since re-joining the starting unit against Colorado. Junior Sarah Wegrzynowicz and Nwagbo round out the SU starters. Wegrynowicz is scoring 6.7 points per contest and is one of four Orangewomene with at least 10 three-pointers this season. Nwagbo is scoring 6.0 points per game and is SU’s top rebounder at 5.6 boards per game. She also tops the team’s field goal percentage chart at 52.1.
The matchup with the Panthers will be the Orangewomen’s fourth game in a nine-day span. Following the game, SU gets two days to prepare for their BIG EAST home opener against St. John’s on Saturday, January 10.
Pittsburgh enters the game with a 4-7 overall mark and an 0-1 record in the BIG EAST. The Panthers opened conference play on Saturday, January 3 with a 65-58 loss at West Virginia. Cheron Taylor led the team off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds. Jessica Allen and LaToya Kincaide also hit for double figures with 12 and 11, respectively.
Kincaid is the Panthers leading scorer and rebounder at 14.9 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. She is the only active player averaging in double figures. Amy Kunich was averaging 10.8 points per game, but has been missed the last seven games with a stress fracture in her foot. She is not expected back until late January. Allen and Jennifer Brown are next on the Pittsburgh scoring ledger at 9.5 and 7.3 points per game, respectively.Allen is the Panther’s biggest threat from deep, hitting 29 of the team’s 53 three-pointers.
The Orangewomen own a 25-14 all-time advantage in the series, including a 22-12 lead in BIG EAST regular-season play. SU won last year’s meeting, 71-61 at Manley Field House. SU has won three straight games and four of the last five. The Orangewomen are 8-8 all-time at Pittsburgh. All those games were played at Fitzgerald Field House. This is SU’s first game at the Petersen Events Center. SU head coach Keith Cieplicki has never faced the Panthers.
