Michael Merits SU's Second Award
3/4/2009 9:23:41 AM | Women's Basketball
Tournament Central
SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Junior forward Nicole Michael was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for the second time this season after averaging 20.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals in Syracuse's last three games. Michael's honor in the final week of the regular season marks the eighth time a Syracuse player has made the weekly list. Senior guard Chandrea Jones has been tabbed three times, sophomore guard Erica Morrow twice and junior forward Juanita Ward once.
Michael accounted for 17 points, seven rebounds, two assists and one steal in 27 minutes of action at No. 23/22 Notre Dame on Feb. 24.
She secured her sixth double-double of the season by way of 22 points and 13 rebounds at West Virginia on Feb. 28. The junior also had a team-best two steals against the Mountaineers. She was 9-of-14 (.643) from the field and 3-of-4 (.740) from the free-throw line.
The Queens, N.Y. native reached the 22-point plateau for the second consecutive game while leading Syracuse in scoring for the sixth time this season in SU's 78-72 win versus Providence on Mar. 2. She was 7-of-14 (.500) from the field and 7-of-8 (.875) from the foul line. Michael also added one assist and one steal in her 34 minutes.
Over the course of those last three outings, Michael attacked at a shooting rate of 53.7 percent (22-41) from the floor.
Michael is just the fifth player in SU history to record 1,250+ points and 650+ rebounds. Michael has amassed 1,206 points in 84 career games to rank 10th on Syracuse's all-time scoring chart. Her 674 rebounds are eighth on SU's all-time chart.
The junior is averaging 15.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest. Michael has made 47.4 percent (139-293) of her attempts. The third-year forward has 21 double-figure games, including her last seven (tied for eighth in the BIG EAST) and 16 of her last 17, 13 15+ point games and seven 20+ point games. She has led SU in scoring six times, rebounding 10 times, steals seven times and blocks on 12 occasions. Her six double-doubles are ninth in the BIG EAST.
Her 18 career 20+ point games are the most ever in SU history and her 21 career double-doubles rank seventh all-time at SU.
Syracuse (16-13, 5-11) earned itself a No. 12 seed in the 2009 BIG EAST Championship and will take on No. 13 St. John's on Friday, March 6, at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. Tipoff is scheduled for noon and can be seen live on BIGEAST.org. With a win against the Red Storm, the Orange will face No. 5 Notre Dame at Noon on Saturday, March 7 in the second round. That game will be broadcast by BETV.
Head coach Quentin Hillsman is 3-0 versus the Red Storm with his most recent victory coming on February 14. The Orange defeated St. John's, 79-78, at Carnesecca Arena. Four members of the Orange hit double-figure points in Jamaica, N.Y. Junior Nicole Michael led all players with 23 points and 12 rebounds. Senior Chandrea Jones posted 21 points, while sophomore Erica Morrow and junior Vionca Murray recorded 13 and 10 points, respectively.
