Syracuse University
Rutgers University
Michael Breaks SU Record in First Win at Rutgers
2/21/2010 3:22:09 PM | Women's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Senior forward Nicole Michael shattered another Syracuse record and became the school's all-time leading rebounder as she recorded 11 boards and 14 points as the Syracuse University women's basketball team (19-7, 6-7) defeated -/rv Rutgers (15-12, 7-6), 76-45, at the Louis Brown Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon. Michael has 937 total rebounds, which puts her ahead of former Orange great Felisha Legette, who had 927 in her career. Michael, who registered her 30th career double-double, led the Orange to its first victory at Rutgers in school history.
“I give a lot of credit to my kids,” said head coach Quentin Hillsman. “It's been a long season for us and our kids could have thrown it in, but they really competed. Rutgers is a very good team. They keep coming after us and our kids kept responding. At the end of the day, we had three freshmen on the floor and to have them play with poise is tremendous. It's an honor to coach these kinds of kids that don't give up.”
Junior guard Erica Morrow led the Orange in scoring with 17 points and a dished out a game-high in assists for her third consecutive game with seven. The Syracuse freshmen came out strong, including guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas, who matched a career-high with 14 points on a perfect 3-of-3 shooting from 3-point land, while fellow freshman guard Elashier Hall recorded a career-best 10 points.
The Orange defense maintained its poise throughout the game as it held the Scarlet Knights to just 29.4 percent (15-51) shooting, including 25 percent (3-12) from behind the arc. Syracuse converted 25 turnovers into 24 points, while shooting 44.1 percent (26-59) from the field and 45.8 percent (11-24) from 3-point range.
Morrow got the Orange off to a hot start, as she accounted for seven points as it led, 10-5, within the first five minutes. Rutgers was held scoreless for nearly four minutes, but its back-to-back layups were counteracted by a Morrow 3-pointer and a layup by freshman center Kayla Alexander to increase the separation, 18-9, at the 12-minute mark. Syracuse maintained its hot-shooting from downtown, as junior guard Tasha Harris and Hall made back-to-back 3-balls to hold the 24-13 lead with 9:11 remaining.
The Scarlet Knights fought back to make it a single-digit game, 26-17, but Michael stopped a four-minute scoring drought with her first bucket of the afternoon with 5:03 left before the break. The score remained 28-17 until Rutgers' Brittany Ray made a jumper with two minutes left till halftime. Tyson-Thomas converted a bucket into a three-point play, while Michael pitched in a basket before sophomore guard Tyler Ash made a 45-foot shot at the buzzer to close out the half on a 8-0 run.
The second half started out slow, as the Orange scored just four points within the first six minutes, while Rutgers' first five points came from the free-throw line. The momentum remained in Syracuse's favor though, as Michael hit her first 3-pointer of the day at the 14:07 mark, while Alexander executed a three-point play to give SU a 46-24 lead with 13:40 left in the game.
The two teams exchanged layups, but Tyson-Thomas hit a 3-pointer to keep the 54-30 lead with 11:31 remaining. Ray answered with her own 3-ball, but that didn't falter the Orange, as it continued on a 6-0 run to hold the 62-33 lead with 8:19 left on the clock. Rutgers attempted to play catch-up, going on a 7-3 run, but its efforts were negated when Michael and Tyson-Thomas each made a 3-pointer to make the score 72-43 with less than three minutes remaining. Michael and Morrow pitched in two more buckets in the final minutes to settle the final score, 76-45.
The Orange returns to host No. 1 Connecticut on Wednesday, February 24 at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
