Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski
Orange Women: Dominating The Boards
1/18/2012 2:53:20 PM | Women's Basketball
The Syracuse women's basketball team, under sixth-year head coach Quentin Hillsman, has established itself as the most dominant rebounding team not only in the BIG EAST, but in the country. The Orange (12-7, 1-4 BE) currently leads the NCAA with an average of 49.3 rebounds per game.
Syracuse leads the BIG EAST in virtually all rebounding categories, including rebounds per game, rebounding margin (+12.7), and offensive rebounds per game (22.0). SU's rebounding margin ranks sixth nationally.
It has been a team effort on the boards, as five players average between five and eight rebounds per game. Junior guard/forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas leads the squad at 7.8 boards per game, while junior center Kayla Alexander (7.7), senior forward Iasia Hemingway (6.8), sophomore forward Shakeya Leary (6.4) and junior guard Elashier Hall (5.3) round out the group.
“We just want to come out and be physical,” Hillsman said. “We want to be aggressive in the paint and do the things that we do well, which are rebound the basketball and score points in the paint.”
The Orange's prowess on the boards is not a one-year occurrence. SU led the NCAA in rebounding margin in 2010-11 when it finished the season +13.4. The team also led the BIG EAST in rebounds per game (45.1) and offensive rebounds per game (18.1).
The Orange's body of work on the glass over the last two seasons all goes against the common belief which states teams that play zone defenses struggle to rebound, as SU plays primarily a 2-3 zone. The Orange ranks second in the conference in rebounding at the defensive end at 27.3.
The team's true strength still lies on the offensive glass where, after averaging 18.1 offensive boards per game last season, the Orange is averaging 22.0 per game this season.
SU has hauled in 418 offensive rebounds through 19 games, compared to 428 defensive rebounds for its opponents, meaning the Orange gets the rebound of its own misses nearly half the time (49.4 percent), well ahead of West Virginia, who ranks second in the BIG EAST at 45.0 percent, and even further ahead of the rest of the conference's average of 37.5 percent.
To put that statistic in perspective, the Orange has given itself 161 more opportunities to score over the course of the season compared to the rest of the conference, or about eight and a half possessions per game.
After outrebounding 31 out of its 35 opponents last season, Syracuse has held the edge in 16 of 19 contests this season, but the team's glass-cleaning prowess will be but to the test over the duration of the season, including home dates at the Carrier Dome against No. 3 Connecticut (Jan. 25) and No. 2 Notre Dame (Feb. 7).
Syracuse leads the BIG EAST in virtually all rebounding categories, including rebounds per game, rebounding margin (+12.7), and offensive rebounds per game (22.0). SU's rebounding margin ranks sixth nationally.
It has been a team effort on the boards, as five players average between five and eight rebounds per game. Junior guard/forward Carmen Tyson-Thomas leads the squad at 7.8 boards per game, while junior center Kayla Alexander (7.7), senior forward Iasia Hemingway (6.8), sophomore forward Shakeya Leary (6.4) and junior guard Elashier Hall (5.3) round out the group.
“We just want to come out and be physical,” Hillsman said. “We want to be aggressive in the paint and do the things that we do well, which are rebound the basketball and score points in the paint.”
The Orange's prowess on the boards is not a one-year occurrence. SU led the NCAA in rebounding margin in 2010-11 when it finished the season +13.4. The team also led the BIG EAST in rebounds per game (45.1) and offensive rebounds per game (18.1).
The Orange's body of work on the glass over the last two seasons all goes against the common belief which states teams that play zone defenses struggle to rebound, as SU plays primarily a 2-3 zone. The Orange ranks second in the conference in rebounding at the defensive end at 27.3.
The team's true strength still lies on the offensive glass where, after averaging 18.1 offensive boards per game last season, the Orange is averaging 22.0 per game this season.
SU has hauled in 418 offensive rebounds through 19 games, compared to 428 defensive rebounds for its opponents, meaning the Orange gets the rebound of its own misses nearly half the time (49.4 percent), well ahead of West Virginia, who ranks second in the BIG EAST at 45.0 percent, and even further ahead of the rest of the conference's average of 37.5 percent.
To put that statistic in perspective, the Orange has given itself 161 more opportunities to score over the course of the season compared to the rest of the conference, or about eight and a half possessions per game.
After outrebounding 31 out of its 35 opponents last season, Syracuse has held the edge in 16 of 19 contests this season, but the team's glass-cleaning prowess will be but to the test over the duration of the season, including home dates at the Carrier Dome against No. 3 Connecticut (Jan. 25) and No. 2 Notre Dame (Feb. 7).
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