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ORANGE TAKES ON SECOND STRAIGHT TOP 10 OPPONENT
The SU women’s basketball team returns to Syracuse to meet its second top 10 foe in the last four days when the Orange battle five-time national champion Connecticut on Wednesday. Syracuse has lost its last four including a 60-43 decision to #7/8 Rutgers on Feb. 19 at the RAC. This is the second consecutive season the Orange has squared off against the conference’s two premiere teams in back-to-back games. Last season, SU hosted the Scarlet Knights on Feb. 16 then played at Connecticut three days later (Feb. 19). It is, however, the first time since 1999-2000 that the Orange has played consecutive games against schools ranked in the top 10 (Feb. 15, 2000 vs. #8 Rutgers; Feb. 18, 2000 vs. #1 Connecticut).
POURING IT ON
Sophomore center Vaida Sipaviciute continued her splendid sophomore campaign with six points at Rutgers on Feb. 19. The performance put her over the 400-point mark for the season. She now has 401 points and leads the Orange in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Sipaviciute is the second SU player in the last three years to tally 400 markers in a season. SU’s all-time leading scorer, Julie McBride, went over the 400-point plateau in her senior season of 2003-04, scoring 441 points, the 10th-highest total in school history. Sipaviciute’s current scoring average is on pace to rank ninth on SU’s single-season list.
ORANGE FROM DEEP
SU is shooting better than 30 percent from 3-point range, hitting 30.2 percent of its attempts from long range this season (76-252). The club’s current 3-point shooting clip is on pace to rank eighth on SU’s single season list. Freshman guard
Jenny Eckhart is
the team’s leader in trifectas with 34 and leads the club in 3-point field goal percentage at .340.
SU BENCHES LAST SIX OPPONENTS
The Orange has averaged 20.7 bench points per game in its last six outings and has outscored its opponents’ reserves 124-80 in those games, two of them victories. On average, the SU reserves are outscoring its foes’ bench players by a margin of +7.3 points per game in those games. Freshman
Keri Laimbeer is averaging 6.0 points per contest off the bench in SU’s last six games.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Connecticut has won 12 of its last 13 games. It’s only loss in that span came against league leader Rutgers, 60-56, on Feb. 7. The Huskies are 24-3 overall and 12-1 in conference play and has already locked up a first-round bye in the BIG EAST Tournament. UConn has four players averaging in double figures, including preseason all-league selections Ann Strother (14.5 ppg) and Barbara Turner (11.4 ppg). The Huskies have outscored their opponents by an average of 19.3 points per contest. They rank second in the conference in scoring offense (75.1 ppg) and defense (55.8 ppg) and is tops in the league in field goal percentage (.479), field goal percentage defense (.351) free-throw percentage (.725) and blocked shots (4.6 bpg). Head coach Geno Auriemma has amassed a 581-114 (.836) record since taking over the UConn program in 1985-86. He has guided the Huskies to five national championships, including three straight from 2002-04. Auriemma is one of this year’s 16 finalists for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
THE SYRACUSE-CONNECTICUT SERIES
The Huskies lead the all-time series, 27-12, and have won 24 of the last 26 pairings between the two schools, including an 82-56 victory in the 2005 BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals. SU’s last win against the Huskies came on Jan. 2, 1996 at Manley Field House. SU handed the Huskies a 62-59 defeat. Since then Connecticut has reeled off 13 straight series victories. UConn is the last team to put up 100 points against the Orange, hitting the century mark in a 100-74 triumph at Gampel Pavillion on Jan. 18, 2000. Former SU star Beth Record scored 35 points in the loss, the most markers for any Orange player versus the Huskies. Syracuse won the first five meetings in the series from 1983-86.
Syracuse vs. Connecticut Facts & Figures
All-Time Series: UConn leads, 27-12
First Meeting: Dec. 28, 1980 (Syracuse 73, Connecticut 68)
Last Meeting: March 6, 2005 (Connecticut 82, Syracuse 56) (BET)
Last 10 Meetings: UConn leads, 10-0
Current Streak: UConn, 13
Coach Cieplicki’s Record vs. Connecticut: 0-3 (at Vermont 0-0; at Syracuse 0-3)
