Syracuse University
Xavier
Orange Fends Off Xavier In Vegas Opener
12/18/2011 4:06:43 PM | Women's Basketball
LAS VEGAS - Double-doubles by Carmen Tyson-Thomas and Kayla Alexander, along with 17 second-half points from Iasia Hemingway thwarted a Xavier (3-6) comeback attempt and gave Syracuse women's basketball (8-3) a 70-67 victory in the opening game of the Duel In The Desert at UNLV's Cox Pavilion on Sunday afternoon.
Tyson-Thomas scored 14 of her game-high 18 points in the first half and finished with 10 rebounds and Alexander scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. Shakeya Leary hauled in 10 boards of her own to give the Orange three double-figure rebounders, while Rachel Coffey dished out five assists.
The Orange outscored the Musketeers, 24-10 at the free throw line, going 24-of-31. SU, the nation's leading rebounding team, also held the edge on the boards, 48-41.
Two free throws by Jessica Pachko with 56.6 seconds left pulled Xavier within two, 67-65, and after Hemingway sank two clutch free throws of her own with 30.2 ticks left to put the Orange back up four, Lynette Holmes banked in a runner in the lane with 4.6 seconds left.
Elashier Hall then hit one of two free throws with 2.9 seconds left to put the Orange up three, and Tyson-Thomas deflected the ensuing inbounds pass off the Xavier inbounder to give the Orange the ball and seal the victory.
After being held scoreless in the first half, Hemingway poured in 17 second-half points and was 7-of-10 at the free throw line.
After leading by as much as 10 early in the second half, the Musketeers found their shooting touch and outscored the Orange, 21-13, over an eight-minute span to pull within two, 58-56 with 7:52 left, but five points by Hemingway over a three-minute span fueled a 7-2 SU spurt that got the SU lead to seven, 65-58 with 4:25 left.
The Orange used a 15-2 run over a 2:39 stretch midway through the first half to take control of the contest. The lead reached as much as 13 in the first 20 minutes on a Alexander putback with 4:23 to go that made it 30-17, but the Musketeers trimmed their deficit to seven, 38-31 at halftime.
Shanee Williams set her career-high in scoring in the first half alone, netting nine points, while Tyson-Thomas led all first-half scorers with 14 points and grabbed seven boards.
After Xavier recorded the first hoop of the game, Tyson-Thomas scored eight-straight points, included 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions, to give Syracuse an 8-2 lead four minutes into the game. The junior would go on to score the Orange's first 10 points.
The Orange continues play in Las Vegas on Monday when it faces Oklahoma in a 5:30 p.m. ET tip-off.
