Syracuse University
West Virginia University
Orange Upsets No. 8/7 WVU, 67-48
3/1/2010 9:02:58 PM | Women's Basketball
Box Score | Coach Hillsman Quotes | Player Quotes
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The Syracuse University women's basketball team (20-9, 7-9) came back from a 14-point deficit to upset No. 8/7 West Virginia (26-4, 13-3), 67-48, on Monday evening inside the Carrier Dome. The Orange snapped the Mountaineers' six-game winning streak and became the only non-top five team to defeat WVU, as its only other losses came at the hands of No. 1 Connecticut, No. 3 Ohio State and No. 4 Notre Dame. It was the highest ranked opponent the Orange has defeated since Jan. 2, 1996 when it posted a victory against No. 2 Connecticut, 62-59.
Junior guard Erica Morrow led the attack for the Orange with 23 points and a team-high five assists. The Syracuse defense proved to be the difference-maker in the game as it scored 28 points off the same number of WVU turnovers, while holding the Mountaineers to just 14.3 percent (3-21) shooting in the second half. Despite playing the final 14:40 without Syracuse's all-time leading scorer, senior forward Nicole Michael, the Orange offense still managed to dominate with 27 rebounds to West Virginia's 10.
Syracuse honored the careers of Michael and fellow seniors Vionca Murray, Lynnise Nixon and Juanita Ward prior to the tipoff. Ward was one rebound shy of a double-double with 10 points and a team-leading nine rebounds, while freshman Carmen Tyson-Thomas rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points.
The Mountaineers opened up with a 7-0 lead and kept the hosts scoreless for more than two minutes till Ward put the Orange on the board. The WVU lead grew to 14, while the Orange scored only eight points just 9:46 into the game. Syracuse turned up the pressure on defense and fought the deficit to make it a 23-11 game with 7:53 left in the half.
The Orange did not allow a Mountaineer basket for two minutes, while a bucket by Morrow made it a single-digit game, 27-18, with 3:25 left till the break. SU continued climbing back into the game with the help of its stellar defense, which accounted for eight steals and 14 WVU turnovers in the first half, and a 3-pointer by Morrow to put the score at 30-23 with 2:29 remaining. Morrow closed out the half by hitting her second 3-pointer of the evening at the buzzer to give the Orange its closest margin, 34-30, at the break.
Murray began the second half with back-to-back buckets to tie it at 34-34 within the first minute. The Orange took its first lead of the game, 36-35, at the 18:21 mark and allowed just one Mountaineer basket in the first four minutes of the half. The Orange continued to play the final 14:40 without an injured Michael, who left the game due to an injured foot.
West Virginia crept within one, 40-39, while SU used a 6-0 run to put itself up, 47-39, with 12:30 left in the game. WVU's Asya Bussie nailed a 3-ball to make it a 47-40 game at the 10:57 mark, but the Orange continued to pull ahead, 55-40, with 8:03 left. The Orange continued to roll as Morrow made her fourth 3-pointer of the night to open up SU's largest lead, 62-42, with 4:24 left. The Mountaineers stopped its scoring drought and made its first bucket in nearly 12 minutes, but it was not enough to overcome Syracuse, which earned its 20th victory for only the fourth time in program history.
Syracuse travels to Hartford, Conn. for the BIG EAST Tournament on Friday, March 5 till Tuesday, March 9. The Orange will play as the #9 seed against #15 Seton Hall on Friday at 2 p.m.
