Game Notes (.pdf)
Buy Tickets
ORANGE AND GOLDEN EAGLES MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME
Syracuse squares off against its second BIG EAST newcomer of the 2005-06 season when it welcomes Marquette to the Carrier Dome on Jan. 14. The contest marks SU’s second game of the year against one of the new five BIG EAST members. The Orange lost, 90-73, versus Louisville in its first outing against a conference first-timer. Syracuse enters the competition below .500 for the first time this year at 7-8 overall. The Orange is winless in conference play (0-4). It is the first time since the 1998-99 campaign that SU has started off the league portion of its schedule with four consecutive losses. That season the Orange went on the road to Providence and posted an 82-64 victory against the Friars in its fifth league contest to get into the conference victory column.
SIPAVICIUTE CLOSING IN ON 500 CAREER POINTS
Sophomore center Vaida Sipaviciute comes into SU’s match-up with the Golden Eagles with 496 career points. After two subpar showings, the Kaunas, Lithuania native came off the bench at Villanova and scored 22 points to lead all Orange scorers. The performance represented the 13th time in 15 games she has scored in double figures and the ninth 20+-point game of the year. Sipaviciute has led SU in scoring eight times this season and she became of the first player since Julie McBride in 2003-04 to drop 30+ points twice in the same year after she set the school record with 41 versus Colgate on Nov. 29 and netted 31 at Albany on Dec. 20. For the season, Sipaviciute has 285 points and owns a scoring average of 19.0 ppg. In her rookie season of 2004-05, she scored 211 points in 29 appearances.
CIEPLICKI SHUFFLES LINEUP VERSUS WILDCATS
There were some new faces in the the Orange’s starting five when it took on Villanova on Jan. 10. SU court boss
Keith Cieplicki used three new starters against the Wildcats. Sophomore
Amanda Adamson, who started 13 games a year ago made her first appearance in the 2005-06 starting five in the Orange backcourt. Also receiving starts at Villanova was freshman
Lina Lisnere and redshirt freshman
Sara Antolick. It was the third start of the year for Lisnere, who was also a member of the Orange first unit versus Colgate on Nov. 29 and at Canisius on Dec. 4. It was the fourth time Antolick has been a part of SU’s starting five this season. Earlier this year, Antolick received three straight starts (at Pittsburgh, vs. Massachusetts, vs. Binghamton) at the power forward spot. Against the Wildcats, she started at center in place of
Vaida Sipaviciute.
It was the seventh different starting lineup for the Orange this year. The two constants in the starting group have been freshman
Jenny Eckhart and junior
Tracy Harbut, who have started all 15 contests.
SCOUTING THE GOLDEN EAGLES
Marquette is 10-4 overall and 1-2 in BIG EAST action. It received one vote in the most recent Associated Press Top 25 poll released on Jan. 10. After stringing together eight consecutive victories, the Golden Eagles have struggled recently, losing their last three contests, including a 67-65 overtime loss at Notre Dame on a bucket by Megan Duffy with time winding down on Jan. 10. Marquette is coached by Terri Mitchell, who has guided the club to five NCAA Tournaments and five 20-win seasons in her nine full years in Milwaukee. The Golden Eagles are fourth in the league in scoring defense, allowing 57.8 points per contest. Marquette has not given up more than 67 points in 2005-06 and has held opponents below the 60-point mark nine times. It also does a good job defending the 3-point shot. Marquette’s foes are shooting 24.1 percent from long range, the second worst mark in the conference. The Golden Eagles boast four players that are scoring in double figures led by Christina Quaye’s 14.2 points per game. Jasmine McCullough (11.7 ppg), Danielle Kamm (10.1 ppg) and Carolyn Kieger (10.0 ppg) are scoring in double digits. Kieger leads the conference in assists per game at 7.0. Quaye, McCullough and Kamm are all averaging more than 6.0 rebounds per contest.
THE SYRACUSE-MARQUETTE SERIES
This is the fifth time that SU and Marquette have met on the hardwood. The two teams split the first four meetings. Marquette won the most recent pairing 65-59 in Milawaukee on Nov. 28, 2000.
Syracuse vs. Marquette Facts & Figures
All-Time Series: Tied, 2-2
First Meeting: Dec. 28, 1992 (Syracuse 86, Marquette 74 OT)
Last Meeting: Nov. 28, 2000 (Marquette 65, Syracuse 59)
Last 10 Meetings: See all-time series record
Current Streak: MU, 1
Coach Cieplicki’s Record vs. Marquette: First Meeting
