Syracuse University
Saint Joseph's
Orange in Philly to Take on St. Joe's
11/19/2012 8:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball
| -/RV Syracuse (3-0) at St. Joe's (2-1) | ||
| Game Details |
Tuesday, Nov. 20| Philadelphia, Pa. | 5:00 p.m. Hagan Arena |
|
| Game Coverage |
Orange All Access: Listen Watch | Live Stats Twitter: @SyracuseWBB | @Cuse Facebook: /SyracuseWBB |
|
| Syracuse Links | Game Notes | Roster | Schedule | Stats | |
| Cornell Links | Game Notes |Â Roster | Schedule | Stats | |
The -/rv Syracuse Orange women's basketball team (3-0) continues its season-long seven game road trip on Tuesday when it heads to Philadelphia to take on Saint Joseph's (2-1) in a 5 p.m. tip-off at Hagan Arena. Friday's game is the third of seven straight games away from the Carrier Dome, including a pair at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico on Thanksgiving Weekend.
Syracuse is coming off road wins at Maine (68-44) last Tuesday and at Cornell (80-35) on Friday after opening the season on Nov. 11 with a 94-47 victory vs. Fairleigh Dickinson at the Carrier Dome.
GAME COVERAGE
• All the Orange's games can be heard live on SU's flagship station, ESPN 97.7 FM/1200 AM, and on Orange All-Access at SUathletics.com with Brian Higgins '04 on the call.
• Orange All Access at SUAthletics.com will have live audio of the game, while SJUHawks.com will have a live webcast and live stats.
ORANGE PICKED SEVENTH
• Syracuse has been picked to finish seventh in the BIG EAST in the annual women's basketball preseason coaches' poll, announced at the conference's media day on Oct. 18 at the New York Athletic Club. The Orange finished 6-10 last season (T-10th).
• Connecticut was chosen to finish first in the conference, followed by Notre Dame, Louisville, St. John's, Rutgers, DePaul and the Orange. Georgetown was picked eighth, with USF ninth and Villanova rounding out the top 10.
'CUSE GETS VOTES
• Syracuse is receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll, garnering 10 points.
• SU received two points in the preseason poll, the first time the Orange received votes since Dec. 5, 2011.
• The Orange received votes in the first five weeks of the coaches poll last season.
SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH'S
• The Hawks are 2-1 on the season and are coming off a 50-49 upset victory over No. 5 Maryland on Saturday at Hagan Arena.
• Saint Joseph's opened the season with a 69-59 loss at home to Princeton before winning at Drexel, 47-45.
• SJU replaces four starters from last season when it went 22-11 with a 9-5 Atlantic 10 mark.
• Redshirt senior 6-3 forward Chatilla van Grinsven leads the team in scoring (14.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.7 rpg).
• Junior 5-6 guard Erin Shields is scoring 11.3 ppg and leads the team with six 3-point field goals.
• SU is 2-0 all-time against St. Joe's, winning 50-47 on Dec. 4, 1987 in Charlottesville, Va. and 74-68 in overtime on Nov. 24, 1991 in the Carrier Classic.
ORANGE BETTERS BIG RED
• Senior Kayla Alexander recorded her third consecutive double-double to lead Syracuse to an 80-35 victory at Cornell (2-2) on Nov. 16 in Ithaca, N.Y.
• Alexander was 10-of-18 from the floor and 6-for-7 from the free throw line for a season-high 26 points. She also grabbed 13 rebounds, including eight on the offensive end. Alexander increased her career point total to 1,517, making her just the fifth player in school history to surpass 1,500 points in her career.
• Shakeya Leary finished with 16 points and nine rebounds, while senior Carmen Tyson-Thomas added 10 points and five rebounds.
• SU held the Big Red to just 12-for-49 from the field (.245) and caused 26 turnovers as it allowed its lowest point total since Colgate (32) on December 31, 2011.
ORANGE SNARES BLACK BEARS
• Syracuse used a 17-0 second-half run in which it held Maine (0-3) scoreless for 8:41 to cruise to a 68-44 victory on Tuesday evening at Alfond Arena.
• Kayla Alexander scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Orange. With her second double-double of the season in as many games, the senior center ran her career total to 21.
• Elashier Hall scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds, while Brittney Sykes added nine points and nine rebounds. Rachel Coffey dished out a game-high six assists to go with five points and five boards.
• The Black Bears did not score a point between the 11:19 and 2:38 marks, as it saw its deficit grow from seven to 24.
DOMINANT IN THE OPENER
• Kayla Alexander led Syracuse women's basketball (1-0) with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the Orange's 94-47 win against Fairleigh Dickinson at the Carrier Dome on Sunday. The last time the Orange scored 90 points was at Binghamton in 2011.
• Syracuse shot 50 percent from the field while holding the Knights to only 29 percent in its season opener.
• The Orange found its sweet spot from behind the arc, connecting on 11 three-point shots. Seven players hit their shots from behind the arc.
• In their collegiate debuts, four freshman totaled points. Brittney Sykes recorded 11, while Brianna Butler added 10 points. Taylor Ford and Pachis Roberts came off the bench to notch seven points and one point, respectively.
WHAT THE ORANGE RETURNS
• Syracuse returns four starters and eight of its top nine scorers from last season. In all, the Orange has 77 percent of its scoring and 85 percent of its rebounding back from last season's 22-win team.
• The top returning scorer is senior center and Preseason All-BIG EAST selection Kayla Alexander (14.8 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 2.6 bpg).
• SU's top rebounder from last year, Carmen Tyson-Thomas (10.7 ppg, 7.8 rpg) returns for her senior campaign.
• Rounding out the three returning starting seniors is Elashier Hall (8.7 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.9 apg).
• Now a junior, point guard Rachel Coffey (5.6 ppg, 3.2 apg) had a breakout season in 2011-12, becoming the Orange's top outside shooting threat (.362 3fg pct.).
• SU also brings back four players that saw significant minutes off the bench, and in some cases started games, in 2011-12: Phylesha Bullard (2.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg), Shakeya Leary (4.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg), La'Shay Taft (3.9 ppg) and Shanee Williams (2.3 ppg).
WHAT's LOST
• Syracuse lost just one starter and two total seniors from last season.
• Iasia Hemingway was SU's top scorer last year at 14.9 ppg, eighth in the BIG EAST, and averaged 6.4 rebounds per game. THe All-BIG EAST selection scored 997 of her 1,622 career points at SU.
• Troya Berry (1.4 ppg) saw action in 23 games, serving as a reliable post player for the Orange.
WHAT's NEW
• Quentin Hillsman welcomes a five-member freshman class in 2012-13: Brianna Butler (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Cornelia Fondren (Memphis, Tenn.), Taylor Ford (Brooklyn, N.Y.), Pachiyanna Roberts (Powder Springs, Ga.) and Brittney Sykes (Newark, N.J.).
• ESPN Hoopgurlz ranked the class as the sixth-best in the country including two McDonald's All-Americans (Butler, Sykes).
• Butler, a 5-11 guard, also took Parade All-American honors after leading Nazareth (N.Y.) NYC No. 1 and national No. 3 ranking. She was ranked as the No. 13 overall player and No. 4 guard in the class by ESPN.
• Fondren, a 5-8 point guard, led Overton High to back-to-back Memphis city titles, averaging 13 points, five rebounds and six assists as a senior.
• Ford, a 6-0 forward, played with Butler at Nazareth and for the Exodus AAU team.
• Roberts, a 5-11 forward, was a multiple-sport star at McEachern High, earning Parade All-American honors and Miss Georgia Basketball after averaging 17.9 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.8 steals while going 33-0.
• Sykes, a member of the U.S. U19 National Team, averaged 18.9 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists as a senior at University High, earning McDonald's and USA TODAY All-American honors.
DOMINATING THE GLASS
• Dominant rebounding has become the norm for the Orange in recent years. Syracuse finished second in the NCAA in rebounding in 2011-12, averaging 46.2 per game and ranked 11th in rebounding margin (+8.9).
• This season, SU is averaging 45 rebounds per game.
• In the BIG EAST, SU led the conference in rebounds per game (46.2), offensive rebounds (20.1) and was second in rebounding margin (+8.9).
• SU had three of the top 15 rebounders in the league (7. Carmen Tyson-Thomas, 7.8; 9. Kayla Alexander, 7.5; and 15. Iasia Hemingway, 6.4.
• Syracuse led the NCAA in rebounding margin in 2010-11 at +13.4 per game. SU outrebounded 31 of its 35 opponents.
STRONG AT THE STRIPE
• Carmen Tyson-Thomas led the Orange with a .850 mark from the free throw line in 2011-12.
• The Orange set a BIG EAST record for most free throws made without in a miss in a game at Providence (1/31) when it went 23-of-23.
• On Jan. 7 at Pitt, The Orange went 34-of-38 (.895) at the line, including Hemingway setting a school record with 15 free throws in 16 attempts.
ALEXANDER: SETTING RECORDS
• Senior center Kayla Alexander has scored 1,516 points in 111 career games. She became just the fifth player in SU history to reach 1,500 points with 26 at Cornell on Nov. 16 and trails Felisha Legette (1985-89) by 10 points for fourth-place all-time at SU and is 287 points behind the program's all-time leading scorer, Nicole Michael's (2007-10) 1,784.
• Alexander passed Holly Oslander (1989-94) to become Syracuse's all-time blocks leader with eight rejections in the opener vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (11/11). She now has 267 to Oslander's 262.
• Alexander was the Orange's second-leading scorer (14.8 ppg.) and second-leading rebounder (7.5 rpg.) in 2011-12. She ranked 10th in the BIG EAST in scoring and ninth in rebounding, while leading the conference in blocked shots (96 total, 2.6 per game), breaking her own school record.
• Alexander scored a career-high 33 points against Binghamton (11/26/11), giving her 1,008 points in her career. She became the 21st player in program history to score 1,000 points in her career and the first since Erica Morrow in 2009-10.
• Alexander is second on SU's career free throws made list at 418. She now trails Nicole Michael (2007-10) by seven for the most in SU history.
