Women's Hoops Hosts Niagara On Thursday

Syracuse vs. Niagara
Game Details	Thursday, Dec. 29 \| Syracuse, N.Y. \| 7 p.m. Carrier Dome Purchase Tickets
Game Coverage	TV: Time Warner Cable Sports Radio: ESPN 97.7FM/1200 AM, WJPZ 89.1 FM Orange All Access: Video \| Audio \| Live Stats Twitter: @suorangeempire
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
Niagara Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orange women's basketball team (9-4, 0-1 BIG EAST), coming off a 2-1 trip to Las Vegas last week, returns from holiday break to host Niagara on Thursday at the Carrier Dome in a 7 p.m. tip that will be televised live on Time Warner Cable Sports.
• The contest can be heard live on SU's flagship station ESPN 97.7 FM/1200 AM with Brian Higgins '04 on the call. Fans can also listen to the game on Syracuse's student station, WJPZ 89.1 FM. Live audio and video is available on SUAthletics.com via Orange All Access. Live statistics are also available on SUAthletics.com.
• Mark Larson (play-by-play) and Loraine Schunck (analyst) will have the call for Time Warner Cable Sports.

2 OUT OF 3 IN VEGAS
• The Orange has played just three games in the 18 days leading up to Thursday's contest, going 2-1 at the Duel In The Desert at UNLV's Cox Pavilion in Las Vegas. SU opened with a 70-67 victory over 2011 Sweet Sixteen team Xavier, before falling to RV Oklahoma, 82-63. The Orange wrapped up play with a 81-70 victory over Ohio.
• Carmen Tyson-Thomas led the Orange with 18 points and 10 rebounds in the Xavier victory. Elashier Hall led SU with 19 points in the Oklahoma game, and Iasia Hemingway poured in 24 points and grabbed 10 boards in the win vs. Ohio.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 12th meeting all-time between Syracuse and Niagara with the Orange leading the series, 7-4.
• SU won the last meeting convincingly, 93-54 on Dec. 14, 2008 at the Carrier Dome. Juanita Ward scored a game-high 20 points while Nicole Michael and Erica Morrow added 18 and 15, respectively. The Orange forced 31 turnovers in the game.
• The meeting prior to that was a 59-54 Purple Eagles victory on Nov. 26, 2006 at the Carrier Dome. Michael set a school record for freshman scoring in the game with 26 points to go with 15 boards, but Niagara hit 11 3-pointers to get the narrow win.
• The teams played seven times between the 1978-79 and 1981-82 seasons, but did not play again until 2004-05. The series is 2-2 since it was resumed that season.

SCOUTING NIAGARA
• The Purple Eagles are 3-8 this season. After starting 0-4, Niagara won three of five before dropping its last two, 50-40 at Ohio and 63-49 at St. Bonaventure.
• Ohio is one of three common opponents already this season, along with Buffalo and Binghamton. The Orange are 3-0 against the group, while Niagara is 1-2, beating Binghamton, 54-53, on Dec. 10.
• The Purple Eagles have already improved on a 1-29 2010-11 season that saw them go 0-18 in MAAC play. They return three starters.
• 6-2 sophomore center Lauren Gatto leads NU in scoring (9.2 ppg) and rebounding (5.9 rpg).
• Syracuse native and former CBA standout Kayla Stroman is the top backcourt threat, averaging 8.5 points per game and leading the team with 37 assists.
• Kendra Faustin is in her fifth year as head coach.

NON-CONFERENCE HOME STREAK
• Syracuse has won 46 non-conference home games in a row, dating back to the 2006-07 season, Quentin Hillsman's first season as head coach at SU. He is 48-5 in his career in such games.
• The Orange is 5-0 this season in out-of-conference play at the Dome.
• SU's last non-conference home loss was on Dec. 22, 2006 to Canisius (56-43).
• Last season SU was 14-0, 12-0 in 2009-10, 8-0 in 2008-09, and 7-0 in 2007-08.

DOME SWEET DOME
• Syracuse has a record of 59-26 (.694) in the Carrier Dome since 2006-07. The Orange was nearly unbeatable on its home court last season, posting a 20-2 record in the Dome.
• This season, SU is 5-1 in the Dome.

NOVEMBER TO REMEMBER
• Syracuse posted a perfect record in November for the third consecutive year (6-0). The Orange is 23-3 (.885) in November since the 2007-08 campaign. SU's last loss in November was a 58-57 setback against Alaska Anchorage on Nov. 26, 2008.

HOT IN DECEMBER
• The Orange has been almost unstoppable in the month of December in recent years. Since the 2007-08 season, SU is 31-5 in December games for an amazing .861 winning percentage.
• Between Dec. 30, 2006 and Dec. 11, 2010, Syracuse won 26 December games in a row under Quentin Hillsman. The final win of that streak was a 75-66 upset of No. 6 Ohio State before it ended with a 77-43 loss to No. 2 Baylor on Dec. 21, 2010.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
• Dominant rebounding has become the norm for the Orange in recent years. Syracuse led the NCAA in rebounding as of the last national stats update, averaging 52.6 per game and ranked sixth in margin at +14.5 per game.
• In the BIG EAST, SU leads the conference in rebounds per game, offensive rebounds and rebounding margin this season. At 50.5 rebounds per game, SU is well ahead of second place West Virginia (45.3 rpg.). Syracuse is grabbing 22.9 offensive rebounds per game, over four more than second place West Virginia (18.3).
• SU has three of the top 20 rebounders in the BIG EAST (12. Kayla Alexander, 7.7; T13. Carmen Tyson-Thomas, 7.6; and 15. Shakeya Leary, 7.5.
• Syracuse led the NCAA in rebounding margin last season at +13.4 per game. SU outrebounded 31 of its 35 opponents.

ALEXANDER NETS 1,000TH POINT
• Junior Kayla Alexander scored a career-high 33 points against Binghamton on Nov. 26, giving her 1,008 points in her career. She becomes the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 points in her career and the first since Erica Morrow accomplished the feat in 2009-10.
• Alexander was named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll for her performance in Syracuse's first three games of the season. She averaged 18.7 points and 10.7 rebounds in the three contests. Alexander posted a double-double in SU's win against Lafayette with 20 points and a season-high 17 rebounds.
• Alexander is the Orange's leading scorer (15.8 ppg.) and rebounder (7.7 rpg.) this season. She ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in scoring and 12th in rebounding.
• Alexander is fourth on Syracuse's career blocked shot list with 192. Chris Palombi (1981-84) ranks third with 217.
• Alexander is fifth on SU's career free throws made list at 316. Next up is Shannon Perry (2000-03) with 319.

HEMINGWAY SPARKS ORANGE
• Senior Iasia Hemingway has reached double figures in scoring in 10 of 13 games this season. She ranks second on the team in scoring (14.5 ppg) and averages 6.6 rebounds.
• She is coming off a 24-point, 10-rebound performance vs. Ohio (12/20), her third double-double of the season.
• Hemingway erupted for a career-high 30 points on on 11-of-16 shooting and 8-of-11 on free throws to go along with eight rebounds to lead the Orange to victory at Boise State on Nov. 29.
• Hemingway played the first two years of her career at Georgia Tech before transfering to SU. She made the 100th start of her career on Dec. 18 vs. Xavier and currently stands at 102, 44 for the Orange.

TYSON-THOMAS MAKES IMPACT
• Junior Carmen Tyson-Thomas ranks third on the team in scoring (12.1 ppg.) and is second in rebounding (7.6 rpg.) this season.
• The versatile swing-player has set career-highs in scoring in twice this season. Tyson-Thomas scored a career-high 21 points in SU's win against Lafayette. She improved on that performance in Syracuse's win against Buffalo, scoring a team-high 23 points. Since then she has posted 22 points against Ohio (12/20).
• Tyson-Thomas recorded her 11th career double-double against Xavier (12/18) with a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds.
• She leads the BIG EAST in free throw shooting percentage at .923 (36-39) and is tied for third in offensive rebounds per game (3.9).

HALL DISPLAYS ALL-AROUND GAME
• Do-everything junior Elashier Hall has shown her veratility in Syracuse's first 13 contests of the season. Hall is averaging double-figure scoring at 10.7 points per game to go along with 5.8 rebounds per contest, all while leading the team with 45 assists and 27 steals.
• Hall led the Orange with 19 points against Oklahoma (12/19), going 11-of-13 from the free throw line.

LEARY CLEANING UP THE GLASS
• Sophomore Shakeya Leary has posted double figures in rebounds coming off the bench in five contests this season. She led the Orange with 13 rebounds against Long Beach State, helping SU to a 63-42 advantage on the boards against the 49ers. Leary also had 10 rebounds against Binghamton, 10 at Boise State (11/29) and 10 vs. Xavier (12/18).
• Leary scored a career-high 14 points, grabbed nine boards and blocked four shots in 16 minutes vs. Coppin State on Dec. 10.
• Leary is averaging 7.5 rebounds in 17.3 minutes per game. That equates to 17.2 rebounds per 40 minutes of action.

TAFT RECORDS CAREER HIGH
• Sophomore La'Shay Taft sparked the Orange in its victory at Binghamton on Nov. 26. She scored a career-high 22 points and tied her career-best marks in rebounds (4) and assists (3). Taft was 8-for-16 from the floor, including 6-for-13 from three-point range.
• Taft, who made her first career start in the season opener, is averaging 5.2 points and 1.9 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game. Through 13 games, she has already surpassed her rebounds and assists totals from last season when she played in 30 games.

COFFEY COMING ON STRONG
• Sophomore Rachel Coffey scored a career-high 15 points on 5-of-10 3-point shooting in SU's 80-74 loss against Arizona in Hawai'i on Dec. 2. She added six rebounds and three steals in 23 minutes.
• Coffey scored nine points and dished out five assists in Syracuse's win at Binghamton (11/26). She was 3-for-6 for three-point range as SU erased an early eight-point deficit.
• Coffey has started in five of the last six games. She is averaging 3.4 points in 13 games overall. She ranks second on the squad in assists (36) and is coming off a personal-best six-assist performance against Ohio (12/20).

100 AND COUNTING
• Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman recorded his 100th career victory in the Orange's win against St. Francis on Nov. 18.
• In five-plus seasons at the helm of the Orange program, Hillsman has guided SU to a record of 107-69 (.608). He became the fastest coach to post 100 wins in school history.
• Barb Jacobs, the winningest coach in school history, recorded her 100th victory in her 189th game. Hillsman ranks third in career wins at SU.

25 IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
• The Orange has won 25 games in each of the last two seasons. That total is the highest number of wins SU has posted in a season since the program moved to Division I. Syracuse has won 20 or more games three times in the last four seasons.

ORANGE PICKED EIGHTH
• Syracuse was picked eighth in the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Orange received 123 points. Notre Dame narrowly edged Connecticut as the preseason favorite to win the conference title. The Fighting Irish garnered 219 points, while the Huskies were right behind with 216. Both squads received seven first-place votes. Louisville was picked third, followed by Rutgers, Georgetown, DePaul and St. John's.

ALEXANDER NAMED BIG EAST ALL-CONFERENCE
• Junior Kayla Alexander was named to the BIG EAST All-BIG EAST Team in a vote by the league's head coaches. Alexander earned All-BIG EAST First Team honors last season after leading the Orange in scoring (14.8 ppg.), blocks (91), field-goal percentage (.549) and free-throw percentage (.766). Her 91 blocked shots led the BIG EAST and set a single-season school record. Alexander posted seven double-doubles last season and led the team in scoring in 15 games.

POST-SEASON SUCCESS
• Syracuse has played in the postseason in each of the last four years. The Orange has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Women's National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) in each of the past two seasons. SU also participated in the WNIT in 2008-09 after earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament in 2007-08. Five of Syracuse's eight post-season appearances have occurred since head coach Quentin Hillsman took over the reigns of the program in 2006-07.

TAKING ON THE BEST
• Syracuse will take on a challenging schedule again this season. The Orange will face seven teams ranked in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches preseason top 25 and eight that are part of the Associated Press' preseason rankings.

MORROW BACK WITH ORANGE
• Orange fans will see a familiar face on the Syracuse sidelines this season. Erica Morrow, who graduated last spring as SU's second all-time leading scorer, is back with the program as a graduate student manager for 2011-12. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native is enrolled in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communication intensive one-year broadcast journalism graduate program.

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