Orange Back in Action Versus Providence
1/11/2005 4:45:56 PM | Women's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse women's basketball team will host the Providence College Friars at Manley Field House on Wednesday, Jan. 12. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. SU (8-5, 0-2 BIG EAST) is trying to stop a two-game losing streak and earn its first league win of the season.
Syracuse has had a week off to prepare for the Providence match up. The Orange lost its last game, 75-58, at Notre Dame. Freshman Jessica Richter had a career-best 17 points, including five three-pointers. She was also big on the defensive end with a career-best four steals. Richter is SU’s top scorer in its two league games, averaging 13.0 points per contest. In BIG EAST play, the rookie is tops in the league in steals (3.0) and three-pointers made (3.0). She is averaging 7.6 points per game for the season. Sophomore Lauren Kohn had 11 points, including three three-pointers at Notre Dame. She is SU’s second-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game and ranks fourth in the BIG EAST with 1.92 three-pointers per game. Freshman Amanda Adamson rounded out the Orange’s top scorers with 10 points versus the Fighting Irish. Since joining the starting lineup against Albany, Adamson is averaging 8.6 points per game, second best on the team. Rookie center Vaida Sipaviciute had nine second-half points and four blocks last time out. She is the league’s leading shot blocker with 2.46 per game, including a 5.0 average in the last four outings. Senior Chineze Nwagbo, SU’s leading scorer (10.8) and rebounder (8.5) had four points and a team-best seven boards against the Irish. Senior Rochelle Coleman had seven points and tied her career high with seven assists.
Providence enters Wednesday’s game with a 1-13 overall mark and an 0-3 record so far in BIG EAST play. The Friars are a young team with no seniors, one junior and nine freshmen and sophomores. Last season’s leading scorer, Gayle Nwafili, who would’ve been the Friars lone senior this season, suffered a season-ending knee injury in preseason practice. The Friars lost their last game, 60-45, at home to to West Virginia. Shauna Snyder led the team with 17 points, while Jill Furstenburg added 10 for the Friars. Providence shot 45 percent overall in the contest, but turned it over 22 times. Snyder is the team’s leading scorer at 12.8 points per game, including a 13.0 per game average in three BIG EAST games. Kristen Brown is Providence’s top rebounder at 6.9 per game. Furstenburg missed the first eight games of the season, but still ranks second on the team with a 9.0 per game scoring average. Offensively, the Friars are scoring 43.9 points per game, while allowing 66.9 points on the defensive end. The squad is averaging 21.4 turnovers per contest. Providence is shooting 36.6 percent from the floor, 32.4 percent from three and 56.7 from the foul line.
Providence leads the all-time series with SU, 28-13, but Syracuse has taken three of the last four games, including a 55-50 win at Alumni Hall last season. Syracuse has won three of the last four games at Manley Field House, including the last two contests. Providence’s last win in Syracuse was a 76-65 decision on Jan. 4, 2000. The Friars lead the series in BIG EAST regular-season play, 24-13.
GIVE THEM ANOTHER CHANCE
The Orange is averaging 14.54 offensive rebounds so far this season, the fifth-best average in the BIG EAST. SU held a 19-15 edge on the offensive glass at Notre Dame. Senior Chineze Nwagbo has been most effective in getting second chances for the Orange with 3.77 of her 8.5 rebounds per game coming on offense. She ranks fifth in the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds. Last season, the Orange averaged just 8.0 offensive rebounds per game. In SU’s eight wins this season, the Orange has a 90-76 scoring advantage in second-chance points. In the five losses, Syracuse has been outscored in second chance points, 70-43.
COLEMAN LOOKING FOR SPOT IN TOP FOUR
Coleman ranks fifth all-time at Syracuse with 127 career three-pointers, just one away from tying Beth Record for fourth with 128 career triples. She is also among SU’s most accurate with a career 32.2 three-point percentage, the eighth-best among Orange players with at least 20 career three-pointers. Coleman made 70 three-pointers as a sophomore in 2002-03, the third-best single-season total in school history.
