SU Wraps Up Home Schedule with Seton Hall
2/25/2005 12:31:26 PM | Women's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse women's basketball team will play its final home game of the season when it hosts Seton Hall on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. It will be the last home appearance for four SU seniors, Rochelle Coleman, Krystalyn Ellerbe, Chineze Nwagbo and Sarah Wegrzynowicz.
As the regular season winds down both Syracuse and Seton Hall are trying to improve their position in the BIG EAST standings. The Orange is currently in 11th place with a 3-11 league mark. Victories in each of their final two games would give the SU a chance to earn the ninth or 10th seed depending on other outcomes. Seton Hall is currently tied for seventh with St. John’s at 6-8, but stands just a game behind West Virginia for the sixth seed in the BIG EAST Tournament.
The Orange has had a week off from competition to prepare for the Pirates. SU’s last game was an 85-49 loss to Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center. The UConn loss ended a brutal stretch for SU. Four of the previous five games on the calendar have been against top-25 teams, including two match-ups with a top-10 rated Rutgers squad.
Coleman is coming off her best offensive game of the season after scoring a season-high 19 points at Connecticut, including five three-pointers. Coleman ranks fourth on the Orange’s career three-point ledger with 143 makes, six away from passing Teakyta Barnes for third place. Coleman is also Syracuse’s leader with 89 assists this season. SU’s only other player in double figures against UConn was freshman Mary Joe Riley. Riley scored 10 points for her third double-digit game in her last six. She is averaging 7.0 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists in that stretch. Riley has worked her way into the starting lineup and has been with the first unit for five straight games. Freshman Jessica Richter, SU’s leading scorer at 10.2 points per game, had her five-game double-digit scoring streak stopped with four points against the Huskies. It was the first time in six games against ranked opponents that Richter did not score at least 14 points. Despite going scoreless at UConn, Nwagbo is still the Orange’s second-leading scorer at 9.9 points per game and is the team’s top rebounder at 7.4 per contest. Freshman center Vaida Sipaviciute is averaging 10.4 points per game in BIG EAST play and leads the conference with 61 blocked shots, SU’s highest total since the 1993-94 season.
Seton Hall is in a similar scheduling stretch as the Orange with three of its last four games against against Rutgers, Boston College and Villanova. The Pirates’ only win in their last four was a 51-39 home victory versus Providence. Seton Hall lost at home to Villanova last time out, 54-43. Asia Carroll led the team with 11 pionts, while Monique Blake posted a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. Ashley Bush had nine points and a game-high 14 boards. The Pirates shot just 22.2 percent for the game (12-of-54), including 18.5 percent (5-for-27) in the second half. Bush, Blake and Carroll are Seton Hall’s top three scorers. Bush leads the team with 13.0 points and and 8.2 rebounds per game. She is also the Pirates’ top thief with 52 steals. Blake is averaing 11.7 points per contest and is second with 7.3 rebounds per game. Carroll is third at 8.8 points per game. She is the Pirates’ top three-point threat with 36 makes. She has taken 112 of Seton Hall’s 212 three-pointers this season. As a team, the Pirates are 11th in the BIG EAST in scoring at 54.8 points per game, but are fourth in the league in scoring defense, allowing only 56.0 points a game.
The Pirates lead the all-time series, 26-16, including a 23-15 mark in BIG EAST regular-season play. Seton Hall has won the last two meetings, including a 79-71 victory at Walsh Gymnasium last season. Prior to that, SU had taken two games in a row from SHU. Seton Hall has won three of the last four meetings at Manley Field House. The last time the teams played at Manley, the Pirates won, 48-44 on Jan. 21, 2003.
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