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SU AND GEORGETOWN MEET IN CRUCIAL LEAGUE CONTEST
After a little more than a week off the Syracuse women’s basketball team returns to the Carrier Dome hardwood on Wednesday, Feb. 8 when it takes on BIG EAST nemesis Georgetown. Both clubs enter the contest with identical overall and conference records and are tied for 15th in the BIG EAST standings. Each team could use a victory to boost its chances of reaching the 2006 BIG EAST Championship, which features the league’s top 12 teams and will take place in Hartford, Conn. beginning on March 4. For the Orange, it is looking to stop its seven-game home losing streak, its longest since dropping eight straight home decisions in 1996-97. SU’s last win in the Salt City came on Dec. 10 versus Massachusetts in the 2005-06 Dome opener.
HARBUT MAKES HISTORY
Junior forward Tracy Harbut has been an assist machine for the Orange this season, leading SU in helpers in a total of 12 times (three shared). In SU’s last outing, versus Notre Dame on Jan. 31, Harbut paced the Orange again with six assists, increasing her season total to 105. With the performance she became the first SU frontcourt player to reach the century mark in helpers. The previous 23 times an SU women’s hoopster reached 100 assists in a season, it was achieved by a guard. An Orange player has topped the 100-assists plateau in 11 of the last 12 seasons. Rochelle Coleman paced Syracuse with 97 helpers in 2004-05. The last Orange player to crack the 100-assists mark was the school’s all-time leader in dimes Julie McBride, who handed out 114 helpers during her senior season of 2003-04. Harbut ranks third in the conference in assists average at 5.0 per game.
CRASHING THE DEFENSIVE GLASS
The Orange secured 26 defensive rebounds versus Notre Dame on Jan. 31 to raise its defensive boards total to 570 for the season. SU leads the conference in defensive rebounds at 27.14 defensive caroms per game. Conference newcomer Marquette is a close second in the statistic, averaging 27.0 defensive boards per outing. Sophomore Vaida Sipaviciute leads SU with 116 defensive rebounds and she ranks sixth in the BIG EAST in defensive rebounding average (5.52 per game).
50-50
Sipaviciute continued her shot-blocking dominance with three rejections against Notre Dame on Jan. 31. The effort raised her season blocks total to 50. Sipavicute blocked 64 shots as a rookie in 2004-05. She is the first player since Holly Oslander in 1992-93 and 1993-94 post consecutive 50-block campaigns. Oslander set the Orange single-season record for swats with 84 in 1992-93. Sipaviciute is one rejection away from cracking the single-season blocks chart for the second straight year.
"ADAMSON FOR THREE ... GOOD!"
Sophomore Amanda Adamson has connected on at least one 3-point field goal in three of SU’s last four games. In those contests, she is 4-of-8 (.500) from behind the arc. Against Providence, Adamson drained a season-best two triples, including one in overtime to help spur SU to victory.
SCOUTING THE HOYAS
Georgetown ended a six-game losing skid on Feb. 4 with a 64-52 home triumph versus Seton Hall. The Hoyas enter the contest with the same overall (9-12) and league record (2-8) as SU, but Georgetown is just 2-8 in road games and 3-9 in games played away from Washington, D.C. (includes neutral sites). The Hoyas have just nine players on its roster this season and eight average more than 10.0 minutes per game, with five averaging more than 9.0 points per contest. Kieraah Marlow leads the way at 16.2 points per game, the seventh-best scoring average in the league. Katrina Wheeler is the team’s top rebounder at 8.7 caroms per game. Georgetown is an excellent free-throw shooting team. The Hoyas are third in the BIG EAST in the statistic at 71.9 percent (292-406) and the best foul-shooting squad in league matchups (78.7, 148-188).
THE SYRACUSE-GEORGETOWN SERIES
In 44 previous meetings, Syracuse and Georgetown have each posted 22 triumphs. The two clubs have also split the 38 regular season meetings since the formation of the BIG EAST women’s basketball league in 1982-83. The Hoyas have held the edge in the series recently, winning eight of the last 10 matchups, but the Orange triumphed in the most recent meeting, beating the Hoyas, 65-58, in the first round of the 2005 BIG EAST Championship. In 2004, Georgetown’s Rebekkah Brunson put on the most impressve display in the series history with 35 points and 22 rebounds in an 82-59 win.
Syracuse vs. Georgetown Facts & Figures
All-Time Series: Tied, 22-22
First Meeting: Dec. 28, 1981 (Syracuse 83, Georgetown 78)
Last Meeting: March 5, 2005 (Syracuse 65, Georgetown 58) - BET
Last 10 Meetings: GU leads, 8-2
Current Streak: SU, 1
Coach Cieplicki’s Record vs. Georgetown: 1-3 (at Vermont 0-0; at Syracuse 1-3)
