SU Suffers First Loss of the Season, 52-51, at UMass

Saturday, December 4

Amherst, Mass.

2:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

at Massachusetts

Senior Chineze Nwagbo had a career-high 19 points and 14 rebounds in SU's first loss.

SU Suffers First Loss of the Season, 52-51, at UMass

12/4/2004 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

SYRACUSE N.Y. – Senior forward Chineze Nwagbo tallied her career-high 19^th point on the front end of two attempts from the foul line with .4 seconds left on the clock at Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst, Mass. Nwagbo missed the second and the Orange (5-1) lost, 52-51, to the Massachusetts Minutewomen (3-3) on Saturday afternoon.

Senior Rochelle Coleman finished the game with a season-high 11 points, including three from behind the arc. Sophomore Lauren Kohn had nine points, all three-pointers. Nwagbo tied her career-best with 14 rebounds and scored her third double-double this season and 11^th of her career. She went 7-of-12 from the free-throw line, career-highs in both makes and attempts. Nwagbo has scored in double figures in all six games this season.

Brooke Campbell led the Minutewomen with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Edris Bailey had eight points and five boards.

SU trailed 14-7 with 14:53 left on the first-half clock, when the Orange went on a 10-0 run over the next 1:58 to take a 14-7 lead. Coleman tallied six points on two three-pointers during the run. Syracuse was outscored 20-6 following the 10-0 run, including 13-2 in the final eight minutes of the opening frame. Nwagbo netted 12 of the Orange's 20 points in the first half, and SU was behind 27-20 at the break. The Orange committed 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes and went 7-of-24 from the field.

The Orange open the second stanza with an 18-8 run, capped by a three-pointer by freshman Jessica Richter, to take a 38-35 lead with 10:26 left. UMass took a 45-43 lead with 4:29 left, before Kohn hit her third shot from long range, 26 seconds later to give the Orange a 46-45 lead. After nearly two minutes without a basket for either team, Katie Nelson hit a three-pointer and gave the Minutewomen a 48-45 lead with 2:14 on the clock. Coleman tied the score at 50-50 with a three-pointer with one minute left. Tamara Tatham hit both ends of a one-and-one to give UMass a 52-50 lead with 11 seconds remaining in the game. On the ensuing possession, Coleman drove to the basket, missed the shot and then Nwagbo was fouled on her put back attempt, when she went 1-of-2.

"We turned it over too much in the first half and gave them too many easy baskets," head coach Keith Cieplicki said. "We just have to keep getting better. We are a young team and this was a hostile environment. We have to learn from it."

Syracuse shot a season low 31.5% from the field, 17-of-54, including 10-of-37 inside the three-point arc. Syracuse outrebounded Massachusetts, 43-39, marking just the fifth time since the 2002-03 season that SU has lost when grabbing more boards than its opponent.

The Orange returns to action on Dec. 7, at 7 p.m. when SU hosts in-state rival Albany at Manley Field House.