Syracuse University
Notre Dame University
Orange Hosts No. 3 Notre Dame for BIG EAST Showdown
1/29/2010 4:40:25 PM | Women's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The rv/rv Syracuse University women's basketball team (16-4, 3-4) hosts No. 3/3 Notre Dame (18-1, 5-1) on Saturday, January 30 at 1 p.m. The Orange will attempt to move to 17-4 for just the second time in its 39-year history. Tickets for Saturday's game against the Irish are available online (SUAthletics.com), by phone (1-888-DOMETIX) or in person at the Carrier Dome Box Office. Saturday's game is High School and Girl Scout Day at the Dome.
The game can be heard live on SU's flagship station, WTLA 1200 AM and 97.7 FM (WSGO 1440 AM and 100.1 FM in Oswego), or on Syracuse's student station, WJPZ 89.1 FM. Live video for every Orange home game is available on SUAthletics.com via Orange All Access, while live statistics are also available online.
Last Time Out
Syracuse battled the Red Storm, but it could not overcome St. John's, losing 68-65 at the Carrier Dome on January 27. Senior forward Nicole Michael registered her fourth double-double of the season and was the only player to score in double-figures for the Orange with a team-best 22 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Freshman guard Elashier Hall recorded a career-high eight points, which was matched by sophomore guard Tyler Ash and senior forward Vionca Murray. The Orange shot 44.5 percent (27-61) from the field, while limiting St. John's to 38.5 percent (25-65).
Orange Against the Fighting Irish
After SU and UND split the first two contests, the Irish have won 21 of the past 22 meetings (nine consecutive), including 18 regular-season BIG EAST contests against the Orange. Syracuse's only win during that span came on March 3, 2002, when the Orange defeated Notre Dame, 84-79, in the BIG EAST Tournament quarterfinals. Junior guard Erica Morrow and Notre Dame junior Devereaux Peters both played against each other in the 2007 McDonald's High School All-America game. Morrow is averaging 18.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.0 steals in two games against the Irish.
Last Meeting
The Orange went on a 13-0 run late in the first half to cut a 17-point UND advantage, but SU turned the ball over 20 times and sent the Fighting Irish to the line 35 times, resulting in a 90-76 Irish victory at the Joyce Center on February 24, 2009. Morrow drained a team-high 18 points and six assists, while Michael accounted for 17 points and seven boards. Notre Dame's Lindsay Schrader shot 10-of-13 from the floor en route to a game-high 23 points. Syracuse held a slight advantage on the boards, 41-40, but UND made 36 points in the paint to SU's 16.
Scouting Notre Dame
UND is 18-1 overall and 5-1 in BIG EAST play this season. The third-ranked Irish last beat Providence, 84-59, on January 27. Lindsay Schrader scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half, while Natalie Novosel had 12 and Becca Bruszewski, Skylar Diggins and Ashley Barlow pitched in 10 a piece. Diggins, the current BIG EAST Freshman of the Week, is averaging a team-best 13.3 points per game, while Schrader is averaging a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. Notre Dame has appeared in the Top 5 of the AP Poll all 12 weeks this season, marking the second-longest string of consecutive AP Top 5 rankings in program history. The Irish and Stanford are the only two one-loss teams in the country, in addition to unbeaten squads Connecticut and Nebraska. Notre Dame is 4-1 on the road this season and 24-10 since the start of the 2007-08 season.
