Rochelle Coleman scored a season-high 15 points against Pittsburgh.
Syracuse Loses BIG EAST Opener, 63-57 to Pittsburgh
1/2/2005 3:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball
SYRACUSE N.Y. – Marcedes Walker scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down 19 rebounds to lead the visiting Pittsburgh Panthers to a 63-57 BIG EAST victory against Syracuse on Sunday afternoon at Manley Field House. Senior Rochelle Coleman led the Orange with 15 points. She also grabbed six boards and dished out four assists. SU's record is 8-4, 0-1 in the conference. Pittsburgh improves to 9-3 overall, 1-0 in the BIG EAST.
Senior Chineze Nwagbo had six points and grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Sophomore Lauren Kohn and freshmen Jessica Richter and Vaida Sipaviciute each tallied nine points and three rebounds. Sipaviciute, the BIG EAST's leading shot blocker, also recorded a game-high three blocked shots.
Walker tallied the game's last six points to seal the victory for the Panthers. Jennifer Brown finished with 10 points and seven boards. Katie Histed tallied 13 points off the bench for Pittsburgh.
The Panthers scored the first five points of the game, holding SU scoreless for the first 4:46 of the first half. Syracuse answered with a 5-0 run over the next 1:14 to tie the score at 5-5. The game remained close throughout the opening 20 minutes. The Orange tied the score at 24-24, the game's seventh tie, on a jumper by Kohn. SU closed the half with a 7-2 run to take its biggest lead of the first stanza, 31-26. Coleman hit a three-pointer and had two assists on the run.
The Orange opened the second frame with three straight from behind the arc to take a 40-30 lead with 16:59 left in the game. Coleman tallied 11 of her 15 points in the second half, including three from long range. The Panthers slowly came back, gaining a 51-50 advantage with 5:44 on the second-half clock. Richter tied the game at 57-57 with 1:40 left, before Walker scored the last six, including 4-of-5 shooting from the free throw line.
Syracuse forced 20 Panther turnovers, but the Orange was outrebounded 49-39. Nwagbo's 11 rebounds moved her into 15th place on the Orange's career ledger with 504. She is the 15th SU player to record 600 points and 500 rebounds in her career. The loss snapped SU's four-game winning streak against the Panthers.
The Orange travels to Notre Dame on January 5, for a 7 p.m. tipoff. SU hosts Providence on January 12 at 7 p.m. at Manley Field House.
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