Wednesday, November 23
Niagara Falls, N.Y.
7:00 p.m.
Syracuse University
45
at
61
Niagara
Vaida Sipaviciute blocked four shots to move into sixth all-time at Syracuse with 76 career rejections.
Syracuse Loses at Niagara, 61-45
11/23/2005 9:07:46 PM | Women's Basketball
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. – The Orange (2-1) saw its two-game season-opening winning streak come to an end, 61-45, versus Niagara (1-2) on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Gallagher Center. Neither team shot the ball particularly well in the game. SU was 20-of-70 (.286) and the Purple Eagles were 19-of-60 (.317) from the field.
Sophomore center Vaida Sipaviciute (Kaunas, Lithuania) recorded her second straight double-double with a game-high 21 points and a career-best 15 rebounds. She also blocked four shots to move into sixth on SU’s career blocks chart with 76 rejections.
Junior Tracy Harbut (Lexington, Ky.) posted her third consecutive double-digit rebounding effort with 12 boards. She also contributed four points. Freshman Jenny Eckhart (Libertyville, Ill.) tallied eight points and notched personal bests with five rebounds and three steals.
The Orange took an early 4-3 lead on a jumper by rookie Keri Laimbeer (Orchard Lake, Mich.) with 17:13 left in the first period. The Purple Eagles used a 10-4 run during the next 9:45 to claim a 13-8 lead at the 7:58 mark. Niagara continued to build its margin and led by 10, 19-9, after a jumper by Toni Smalley with 4:56 to go in the half. The Orange scored eight of the game’s next 12 points to slice the lead to six, 23-17, at halftime.
Niagara opened the second half by hitting four its first five field goal attempts to reclaim a 10-point margin, 31-21, with 17:18 to go in the game. The Orange never got within nine the rest of the way and the Purple Eagles led by as many as 16 six times in the final period.
Syracuse outscored Niagara from the field in the second half, 24-20, but the Purple Eagles went 18-for-20 (.900) from the foul line after halftime and outscored the Orange, 22-5, from the charity stripe in the game. SU connected on 5-of-16 free throws (.313) in the contest, while Niagara was 22-for-27 (.815).
Smalley paced Niagara with 19 points. She also had nine rebounds. Shaunna Ambrose scored 18 points and was perfect from the foul line in the game (11-11). Jennifer Roueche pulled down a team-high 13 rebounds to go with eight points and three blocked shots.
The Orange owned the battle of the boards, grabbing a season-best 55 rebounds and held a 55-49 margin on the glass. SU’s 55 caroms was the most since it accumulated 61 boards against Akron on Dec. 3, 2000.
The two teams combined to go 1-for-20 from three-point range in the game. The only triple was by Ambrose a minute into the contest. It was the first time since Feb. 7, 2004 that the Orange did not convert at least one three-point field goal attempt.
Syracuse returns home for a pair of games following the Thanksgiving holiday. The Orange will host Sacred Heart in its 2005-06 home opener on Sunday, Nov. 27 at 1:00 p.m. in Manley Field House. Two days later, on Tuesday, Nov. 29, the Orange will entertain Colgate at Manley Field House. Tip time for that one is 7:00 p.m.
Thursday, July 23
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