Women’s Basketball Loses to Lehigh, 55-48

Sunday, November 19

Bethlehem, Pa.

1 p.m.

Syracuse University

Lehigh

Nicole Michael led the Orange with 21 points on eight-of-16 shooting.

11/19/2006 4:33:28 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Bethlehem, Pa. – Despite a majestic performance from freshman Nicole Michael, Syracuse was edged by Lehigh, 55-48. Michael led the Orange with a career-best 21 points and nine rebounds. Her 21 points were the most by a freshman since Jenny Eckhart scored 23 against Canisius on Dec. 4, 2005 and she was the first freshman to lead the team in both scoring and rebounding since Vaida Sipaviciute accomplished the feat on Feb. 9, 2005.

“Nicole played really well today,” said head coach Quentin Hillsman. “She is just a great player and she can score. We just need other people to score with her.”

Junior guard Mary Joe Riley added 10 points and recorded a personal-best four steals for the Orange. Junior forward Fantasia Goodwin pulled down a career-best eight rebounds.

The Orange was plagued by turnovers and rebounding in the game. The Orange committed 23 turnovers and allowed the Mountain Hawks to pull down 20 offensive boards.

“We had a lot of unforced turnovers,” Hillsman said. “If we would have taken care of the ball, we would have been in good shape.”

Syracuse (1-2) led for a majority of the game. The Orange scored the game’s opening six points and never trailed in the first half. SU led by as many as six points on three different occasions before Lehigh (2-1) closed to within one point at halftime. The Orange outscored the Mountain Hawks 16-4 in the paint during the first period. Michael led SU with 11 points at the half and Sipaviciute scored all eight of her points in the first half.

Lehigh claimed its first lead of the afternoon at 31-30, scoring the first basket of the second half. Syracuse quickly reclaimed the lead and held until the nine-minute mark. The Mountain Hawks used a 12-2 run to take control of the game. Syracuse committed seven turnovers and missed four of five field goals during the run.

Syracuse scored only 18 points in the second half while shooting 30.8 percent (8-26) and committing 14 turnovers. Lehigh held a 45-32 advantage in rebounding.

The Orange will look to get back to its winning ways at St. Peter’s on Wednesday, November 22. The game is set to tip-off at 7 p.m.