Orange Road Show Heads To Dartmouth

rv/rv Syracuse (6-0) at Dartmouth (1-3)
Game Details	Thursday, Nov. 29 \| 7 p.m. Leede Arena \| Hanover, N.H.
Game Coverage	Orange All Access: Listen DartmouthSports.com: Watch \| Live Stats Twitter: @SyracuseWBB \| @Cuse Facebook: /SyracuseWBB
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
Dartmouth Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats

The rv/rv Syracuse Orange women's basketball team (6-0) plays its sixth out of seven straight away from home on Thursday when it travels to Hanover, N.H. to take on Dartmouth (1-3) in a 7 p.m. tip at Leede Arena.

• The undefeated Orange is coming off a pair of impressive wins at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico vs. Georgia Tech (75-72 OT) and Virginia (74-73).

• Syracuse concludes its road swing on Sunday at Temple before returning home to host Wagner on Dec. 4, kicking off a five-game homestand at the Carrier Dome.

• The Orange is coming off a 22-15 season in 2011-12, its third straight season of 22 or more wins, capped off with a four-game road winning streak in the WNIT, reaching to tournament's semfinals for the first time in program history.

• Syracuse returns four starters from a season ago , including All-BIG EAST center Kayla Alexander. Eight of the top nine scorers are back, while a freshman class of five ranked as the sixth-best recruiting class in the country by ESPN joins the ranks.

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 dartmouthsports.com will have live video and stats.

'CUSE GETS VOTES

• Syracuse is receiving votes in both the latest Associated Press (30 points) and USA TODAY Coaches Poll (38 points).

• SU received 30 points in last week's coaches' poll and is receiving votes in the AP poll for the first time this season.

• The Orange received votes in the first five weeks of the coaches poll last season.

SCOUTING DARTMOUTH

• The Big Green is off to a 1-3 start, most recently losing a 80-45 decision at Northeastern on Tuesday afternoon.

• After starting the season with a 64-53 win at Bryant, DU lost to BYU at home, 58-57, and at Albany, 62-49.

• Faziah Steen leads the Big Green in scoring at 14.0 ppg, while Abbey Schmidt is averaging a double-double at 10.3 ppg and 10.0 rpg.

• Chris Weiglus is in her 28th season as head coach. She has led DU to four of the last eight Ivy titles.

• The Big Green returns four starters from a 2011-12 team that went 6-22 overall and 4-10 in the Ivy League.

SERIES HISTORY

• Syracuse is 3-0 all-time against Dartmouth. The last meeting was a 56-42 Orange victory at the Carrier Dome on Dec. 13, 2009. Nicole Michael led the way with 14 points while Kayla Alexander added 11 as SU outshot the Big Green, 51.1 percent to 28.3 percent.

• The only times the teams have played in Hanover was a 63-59 SU win on Dec. 28, 2000.

ALEXANDER TAKES BIG EAST HONORS

• Senior Kayla Alexander was named the conference's first Player of the Week of the season on Nov. 19 for her efforts in leading the Orange to a 3-0 start. The senior center recorded a double-double in all three of Syracuse's first three games.

• She followed that up by being named to the BIG EAST Honor Roll on Nov. 26 after leading the Orange to another three wins by averaging 17.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.3 blocks during the week.

• Alexander, a two-time All-BIG EAST selection, was named to the Preseason All-BIG EAST squad this season.

SU LOGS ACC WINS IN PUERTO RICO

• In the year before it makes its move to the Atlantic Coast Conference, Syracuse won two games against soon-to-be conference foes at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico on Nov. 23-24, beating Georgia Tech in overtime, 75-72, and Virginia, 74-73.

• Elashier Hall scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead SU to a 75-72 victory in overtime against rv/rv Georgia Tech. Fellow seniors Kayla Alexander and Carmen Tyson-Thomas added 14 and 13 points, respectively, and freshman Pachis Roberts scored a career-best 11 points to give the Orange four double-figure scorers in a back-and-forth game that saw 15 lead changes and 12 ties.

• Hall made two free throws with .4 seconds left to give Syracuse a thrilling 74-73 victory vs. rv/rv Virginia. Alexander scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the second half to fuel the Orange comeback from as many as 12 down. The senior center also led the Orange with nine rebounds and four blocks. Hall finished with 17 points and Roberts added 11, giving SU three in double figures.

SU GROUNDS THE HAWKS

• Seniors Carmen Tyson-Thomas and Kayla Alexander poured in 23 and 20 points, respectively, to lead Syracuse to a 80-39 victory at Saint Joseph's (2-2) on Tuesday at Hagan Arena.

• The Orange controlled the game by dominating inside, outrebounding the Hawks, 61-31, and outscoring them in the paint, 36-8, while converting 28 second-chance points off 26 offensive rebounds. It was SU's first game of 60-plus rebounds since grabbing 63 against Coppin State on Dec. 10, 2011.

• Playing in her hometown, Tyson-Thomas tied her career-high in scoring and grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds to record her 19th career double-double in the Orange's third straight victory on the road, this time beating the Hawks who were coming off a 50-49 upset of No. 5 Maryland on Saturday.

• Alexander recorded a near-triple-double with 20 points, seven rebounds and eight blocks. She ran her career points total to 1,536, passing Felisha Legette (1,526) for fourth all-time at Syracuse.

• Freshman Brianna Butler, from nearby King of Prussia, scored eight points for the Orange, while Elashier Hall and Rachel Coffey each added seven points. Hall also hauled in 10 rebounds while Coffey dished out a game-high six assists.

ANOTHER TOP 10 CLASS SIGNED

• On Nov. 27, head coach Quentin Hillsman announced the signing four high school seniors to National Letters of Intent to join the Orange in 2013-14.

• The four-player class, consisting of 6-1 guard Tasia Butler (Waldorf, Md.), 6-4 twins Bria Day and Briana Day (Raleigh, N.C.) and 5-6 guard Alexis Peterson (Northland, Ohio), is ranked No. 10 in the country by Dan Olson's Collegiate Girls Basketball Report and No. 12 by Blue Star Basketball Report.

• Three of the signees are ranked as four-star recruits in the ESPN Hoopgurlz 100 with grades above 90 (Butler, Briana Day, Peterson), while Bria Day is ranked as a three-star recruit and graded at 85.

• The talented class will join the current Orange freshmen class of five that was ranked No. 6 in the country by ESPN Hoopgurlz a year ago to form a nine-player nucleus representing the future of the Orange program.

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 46.7 rebounds per game, including a 61-35 advantage on Nov. 20 at St. Joe's.

• 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.

ALEXANDER: SETTING RECORDS

• Senior center Kayla Alexander has scored 1,568 points in 114 career games. She passed Felisha Legette's (1985-89) 1,526 points for fourth place all-time at SU with 20 at Saint Joseph's (11/20). She is 216 points behind the program's all-time leading scorer, Nicole Michael's (2007-10) 1,784.

• Alexander became just the fifth player in SU history to reach 1,500 points with 26 at Cornell on Nov. 16.

• 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 284 to Oslander's 262.

• Alexander passed Nicole Michael (2007-10) for the SU career record for free throws made in the Orange's win vs. Georgia Tech (11/23). She has scored 432 points at the line in her career, while Michael had 425.

• 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.

TYSON-THOMAS MAKES IMPACT

• Senior Carmen Tyson-Thomas is averaging 11.2 points and 6.0 rebounds while shooting 48 percent from the field through six games this season.

• The Philadelphia native recorded her 19th career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's win at Saint Joseph's.

• The 5-9 swing player recorded double-digit rebounds 12 times in 2011-12 and began the 2012-13 season with 10 boards in the opener vs. Fairleigh Dickinson.

• Tyson-Thomas finished 2011-12 third on the team in scoring (10.7 ppg.) and led the club in rebounding at 7.8 per game, seventh in the BIG EAST, 3.7 of which come at the offensive end, fifth-best in the conference.

• Tyson-Thomas had back-to-back double-double performances in the WNIT at Drexel (3/19) and Temple (3/22), averaging 14 points and 11.5 rebounds. She had nine double-doubles on the season, giving her 18 in her career.

HALL DISPLAYS ALL-AROUND GAME

• Do-everything guard Elashier Hall has been just that for the Orange thus far in 2012-13, averaging 9.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game.

• Hall was the star for the Orange in its two wins in Puerto Rico at the San Juan Shootout (11/23-24), recording the fifth double-double if her career with 15 points and 11 rebounds vs. Georgia Tech and poured in 17 points, including the game-winning free throws with .4 seconds left vs. Virginia.

• Hall showed her versatility last season, averaging 8.7 points per game to go along with 5.2 rebounds per contest, all while ranking second on the team with 108 assists and 67 steals.

• Hall scored 12 points and grabbed seven boards in SU's win at Maine on Nov. 13, and followed that with a seven-point, 10-rebound performance at Saint Joseph's on Tuesday.

• Despite playing much of the latter half of last season on an injured knee, Hall finished strong, averaging 12.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in the final four games of the WNIT. She scored 18 in the semifinals at JMU (3/28) after three-straight 11-point outings.

1-2 POINT GUARD TANDEM

• The point guard tandem of freshman Cornelia Fondren and junior Rachel Coffey have been very effective in running the Orange offense, which is averaging 78.5 points per game.

• Coffey (20.8 minutes/game) has come off the bench to lead the Orange in assists in four games this season, compiling an impressive 28-to-12 assist-to-turnover ratio (2.33).

• Fondren (19.3 minutes/game) has started every game at the point and has come on strong as of late, averaging four assists per game in the Orange's wins in Puerto Rico.

• Fondren has been a selective, yet effective, shooter from the outside for SU. She is 3-of-5 from 3-point range this season and is also shooting 80 percent at the free throw line.

• Coffey was the catalyst for SU in the postseason in 2011-12. She averaged a team-best 13.3 points and 5.5 assists per game in SU's four WNIT wins, along with 48 percent shooting from 3-point range (11-23).

• Coffey ended the regular season on fire from the outside, shooting 24-of-52 (.462) from 3-point range in the last 10 games of the regular season, while averaging 3.2 assists per game in that stretch.

• She scored a career-high 23 points with a program postseason record six 3-pointers at Toledo and also had an 8-assist performance at Temple, also setting an SU postseason record.

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