Orange Women's Hoops Takes on Rutgers
2/5/2005 12:07:39 PM | Women's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse women's basketball team plays its third game against a top-10 opponent this season when it travels to New Jersey to face #7/8 Rutgers on Sunday, Feb. 6. Tip-off at the Louis Brown Athletic Center is set for 2 p.m.
SU has lost two games against ranked opponents this season, both to Notre Dame. The Orange is above .500 after 20 games for the fourth time since the 1988-89 season. SU’s 11-9 start is the best since the 2001-02 team was 13-7. The Orange is just one win away from doubling last season’s win total of six (6-21).
In its first try for win number 12, SU lost the first of two meetings with Georgetown, 70-56. SU shot just 20.0 percent in the first half (6-30), while the Hoyas connected on 55.9 percent (19-34) en route to a 43-15 halftime lead. Syracuse outscored Georgetown in the second half, 41-27. Four Orange players scored in double figures, including three freshmen. Rookie Jessica Richter led the way with 15 points. She just missed her first career double-double with a career-best nine rebounds. Richter is the Orange’s second-leading scorer overall at 9.5 points per game and is the team’s top scorer in BIG EAST play at 13.0 points per contest. Sophomore Lauren Kohn had 14 points, including four three-pointers. It was her best offensive game since scoring a career-best 20 points versus Binghamton on Dec. 2. Kohn is SU’s all-time leader in three-point percentage (36.3) and is sixth all-time at Syracuse with 89 threes. Freshman guard Mary Joe Riley netted a career-high 11 points against the Hoyas. It was her first career double-digit game and made her the 10th player this season to score at least 10 in a game for the Orange. Riley has come of late, averaging 7.3 points in 21.7 minutes of playing time in the last three games. In SU’s first 17 games, Riley played in eight of them, scoring a total of three points and averaging just 4.4 minutes played per contest. Rookie center Vaida Sipaviciute rounded out SU’s top scorers with 10 points. She also just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Sipaviciute is the BIG EAST’s leading shot blocker with 51 (2.55/game). She has reached double figures in three straight games and five of her seven starts. She is scoring 7.4 points per game overall and 11.3 points per BIG EAST contest. SU’s leading scorer (11.0) and (7.9) rebounder Chineze Nwagbo had an off night with no points and just two rebounds against the Hoyas. Nwagbo had been averaging 13.2 points in SU’s previous six games.
Rutgers has been unbeatable on its home floor this season, winning all nine games in the Louis Brown Athletic Center, including non-conference wins versus Tennessee and LSU. All five of RU’s losses have come on opponents’ home floors (3-0 in neutral games). Rutgers had a two-game winning streak stopped at Connecticut, 57-44. Freshman Matee Ajavon had a game-high 20 points, while senior Cappie Pondexter had 10 points and a team-leading eight rebounds. Rutgers was held to 28.8 percent shooting for the game, including 21.4 percent in the first half. Ajavon, a three-time BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, leads the team in scoring with 13.4 points per game. She is one of three Scarlet Knights in double figures. Michelle Campbell is scoring 12.4 points and snagging a team-best 6.1 rebounds per contest. Pondexter, who missed the first eight games of the season, is scoring 11.6 points since her return. Nikki Jett is one of only two players to start all 20 games (Campbell) and leads the squad with 3.2 assists per game and 23 three-pointers. Chelsea Newton, who scored 21 points in RU’s win against SU last season, is fourth on the team averaging 9.1 points per game.
Rutgers leads the all-time series with Syracuse, 24-3, including an 11-2 advantage in BIG EAST regular-season play. The Orange is 0-12 all-time vs. Rutgers at the RAC, 3-9 all-time versus the Scarlet Knights at home, and 0-2 at neutral sites. Syracuse has won the last two meetings at Manley Field House, including a 59-57 overtime win last season.
TWO-HEADED POST PRESENCE
OFFENSIVE NOTABLES
• SU’s 45 points in its win against Villanova was fewest number of points the Orange has scored in a victory since a 45-41 win at Keuka College on Feb. 12, 1975. It was the fewest for a home win since a 40-23 victory against Corning Community College on Mar. 7, 1972, Syracuse’s first season of basketball.
• The Orange is 10-1 when scoring at least 60 and 1-8 when going for less than 60.
• In SU’s 11 wins, the Orange is scoring 64.3 points and shooting 42.7 percent overall and 35.7 from three. In the nine losses, Syracuse is averaging 52.3 points per game and shooting 33.9 percent overall and just 28.8 percent from deep.
