Orange Primed for Pitt

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – After an 11-day hiatus from the Carrier Dome hardwood, the Syracuse women's basketball team looks to return to its winning ways on Sat., Jan. 24 when No. 25/rv Pittsburgh comes to town for a 1 pm tip.

The Syracuse-Pittsburgh fray can be seen live on SUAthletics.com via Orange All Access. It can also be heard live on SUAthletics.com via Orange All Access, WTLA AM 1200 and WJPZ FM 89. Live stats will also be available on SUathletics.com.

Syracuse women’s basketball fans are sure to join the Orange on Sat., Jan. 24 when SU takes on Pittsburgh at the Carrier Dome at 1pm. Come be part of Syracuse’s Pack the House challenge and help the Orange celebrate National Girls and Women in Sports Day. Be sure to stop by the Auburn, Cicero or Armory Square Americu Credit Union locations beginning on Tues., Jan. 20 to pick up your official SU Women’s Basketball Bandanna, bring the bandanna to the Dome next Saturday and get a $4 discounted general admission ticket.

Pitt Preview

Pittsburgh enters Saturday's contest riding a two-game BIG EAST winning streak. On Tuesday night, the Panthers crushed Seton Hall, 76-40, in South Orange, N.J. They also defeated USF, 79-47 on Jan. 17. Pitt is 3-2 in the BIG EAST with its other victory coming against West Virginia, 72-63. The Panthers suffered back-to-back conference losses to Providence and DePaul, 77-69 and 69-62, respectively. Pittsburgh owns a 10-2 mark outside of BIG EAST action.

Redshirt senior guard Shavonte Zellous directs Pitt's scoring efforts with 24.1 points per game. Zellous is also averaging 5.4 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Freshman center Kate Popovec leads the club with 6.7 boards per contest in 17.1 minutes a game. Senior guard Xenia Stewart leads the starting five with a field-goal percentage of 47.2 (76- 161), in addition to a second-best 12.1 points per game.

Syracuse holds the upper hand in the all-time series, boasting a 27-18 advantage despite losing its last three games to the Panthers. The Orange has gone 17-5 at home with SU's last victory in Central New York coming during the 2002-03 ledger by a final score of 71-61.

Past Meeting with Pitt

Chandrea Jones scored 19 points in the SU’s 85-75 setback at Pittsburgh on Jan. 9, 2008. The Orange had four players in double-figures with Fantasia Goodwin and Nicole Michael each scoring 16 points, while Erica Morrow had 11 points. In the game, Syracuse finished shooting 35.8 percent (24-67) from the floor, 30.0 percent (3-10) from behind the arc and 77.4 percent (24-31) from the line. Pittsburgh connected on 46.3 percent (25-54) of its shots, 38.5 percent (5-13) from 3-point range and 81.1 percent (30-37) from the line. Pitt outrebouned Syracuse 40-37, but the Orange had 32 points in the paint and 15 second chance points. The Panthers had 18 points in the lane and 13 second chance tallies.

America's Best in Freebies

Syracuse leads the country in both free throws made and free throws attempted. The Orange has earned a nation-best 471 trips to the line, converting an NCAA-high 335 tosses (71.1 percent). Louisville is second on the chart with 319 makes while Florida State has tried 463 free throws.

Syracuse made 84.2 percent (16-19) of its free-throw attempts at Connecticut on Jan. 17. SU is 7-2 (Alaska Anchorage & Connecticut) when its shoots 70 percent or better from the line, 4-1 (Connecticut) when it shoots 80 percent or better and 1-0 when making 90 percent.

The Orange's best performance from the charity stripe came in a 67-62 win against Ohio on Dec. 21. The Orange made a season-best 91.7 percent (22-24) of its free-throw attempts and was SU’s best performance from the line since it made 94.4 percent (17-18) of its attempts.

Starting off on the Right Foot

Syracuse’s current 13-5 mark equals its fourth-best start in school history. Syracuse has been 15-3 twice, during the 2007-08 and 1978-79 seasons. SU was 14-4 during the 1980-81 campaign. This season’s mark matches that of the 1989-90, 1987-88, 1979-80 and 1977-78 seasons. Syracuse is on its best two-year run ever, registering a 28-8 record when combining the first 18 games of both seasons. The Orange was also 28-8 when combining the 1978-79 season with either the 1977-78 or 1978-80 season.

Senior Leadership

In SU's last outing at UConn on Jan. 17, senior guard Chandrea Jones led the Orange with 15 points, four rebounds, one assist and one block in a team-high 34 minutes.

The Baltimore, Md. native has scored in double-figures a team-high 15 times and has led SU in scoring on three occasions. Jones also led SU in rebounding a team-best seven times, steals and blocks on seven occasions and assists three times.

The senior is averaging 15.5 points and a team-best tying 8.2 rebounds per contest. She has also added 2.4 steals and 1.7 assists per game. She has nine 15-point plus, four 20-point plus and one 33-point game season. Jones also has six double-figure rebounding performances.

Syracuse University Athletics

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