Orange Opens BIG EAST Tourney Vs. PC

Syracuse at BIG EAST Championship
Game Details	#12 Syracuse vs. #13 Providence ORANGE NATION TOURNAMENT CENTRAL BIG EAST CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL Friday, March 2 \| Hartford, Conn. \| Noon XL Center \| Purchase Tickets
Game Coverage	TV: None Streaming Video: BIGEAST.tv Radio: ESPN 97.7FM/1200 AM, WJPZ 89.1 FM Orange All Access: Audio Live Stats Twitter: @SyracuseWBB @Cuse
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule
Providence Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule

HARTFORD, Conn. - The Syracuse women's basketball team (17-13, 6-10 BIG EAST) heads to Hartford, Conn. for the 2012 BIG EAST Championship Presented by American Eagle Outfitters, where the No. 12 seeded Orange will face No. 13 seed Providence (13-16, 5-11 BIG EAST) in Friday's first round at the XL Center in a noon tip-off.

GAME COVERAGE
• All SU 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. The games can also be heard on student station WJPZ 89.1 FM.
• Friday's first round games will be streamed online at BIGEAST.tv. Second round games on Saturday will be streamed online and will be televised on the BIG EAST Network. The quarterfinal and semifinal rounds will be televised on ESPNU and Tuesday's championship game will air on either ESPN or ESPN2.

BIG EAST TOURNEY HISTORY
• This is the fifth appearance in the conference tournament for the Orange under sixth-year head coach Quentin Hillsman (3-4) and its 28th overall (14-26).
• Last season, the No. 9 seeded Orange beat No. 16 Seton Hall in the first round, 74-44, before falling to No. 8 seed and No. 17/19 nationally Georgetown, 61-60 in the second round.
• In 2010, the ninth-seeded Orange won two games (Seton Hall and Providence) before falling to eventual national champion Connecticut in the quarterfinals.
• 2010 and 2011 marked the first time SU won games in consecutive tournaments since 1985-86. The Orange has never won a game in three-straight BIG EAST tournaments.
• SU won its first and only BIG EAST Championship in 1985. It opened with a win vs. Pitt (56-55) before topping No. 1 seed St. John's (67-49) and No. 2 seed Villanova (57-56) to take the title.

PROVIDENCE SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 51st meeting all-time between Syracuse and Providence with the Friars leading, 31-19.
• Quentin Hillsman is 5-2 against the Friars.
• SU won this season's meeting, 80-54, on Jan. 31 at Alumni Hall. Iasia Hemingway led five Orange in double figures with 24 points as SU set a BIG EAST record by going 23-of-23 at the free throw line. Shakeya Leary scored a career-high 15 off the bench, while PC was led by Teya Wright's 15.
• The Orange won last season's meeting, 63-47, at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 25. Kayla Alexander tallied 18 points, six rebounds and five blocks to lead SU, while Hemingway added 14 points and eight boards. Mi-Khida Hankins led PC with 17 points while Wright had a double-double with 14 points and 10 boards.
• The teams met in the second round of the BIG EAST Championship in 2010, with the Orange winning, 76-71, on March 6. Erica Morrow scored four of her 24 points in the closing 1:16 to ice the win for SU.

SCOUTING THE FRIARS
• The Friars went 13-16 overall and 5-11 in BIG EAST play. They lost four in a row and seven of eight, beginning with the loss to SU, to close the regular season.
• The Friars closed out the BIG EAST slate on Monday with a 56-54 overtime loss at USF that followed losses to No. 24 Rutgers (68-47), No. 15 Georgetown (66-39) and No. 4 Notre Dame (66-47). Their last win was vs. Seton Hall on Feb. 11 (62-47).
• PC is led by senior forward and UMass transfer Teya Wright, who averages nearly a double-double at 12.5 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
• Rachel Barnes is the top backcourt threat, averaging 10.9 points per game and leading the team with 34 3s.
• Phil Seymore (Canisius '89) is in his seventh season as head coach. He led the team to an 11th-place finish in the BIG EAST in 2010-11, going 13-16 overall and 6-10 in conference.

WEST VIRGINIA MATCH-UP
• If the Orange were to defeat Providence in the opening round, it would be paired against fifth-seeded West Virginia (21-8, 11-5 BE) in the second round on Saturday at noon.
• It would be the 23rd meeting all-time between the Orange and Mountaineers with WVU leading the series, 13-9.
• SU lost to WVU in the first conference game of the season, 76-72, on Dec. 7 at the Carrier Dome. A 13-2 SU run cut what was a 16 point deficit with nine minutes to go to two, but the Mountaineers held off the Orange. Carmen Tyson-Thomas led SU with 17 points, while Asya Bussie and Ayana Dunning each had 19 for WVU.
• SU and WVU are the two top rebounding teams in the conference averaging 45.9 and 42.3, respectively.
• Bussie is WVU's top scorer at 12.1 ppg and grabs 6.6 rebounds per contest. Christal Caldwell (11.9) and Taylor Palmer (11.1) each average double figure points as well.

GEORGETOWN MATCH-UP
• If the Orange were to log wins over PC and West Virginia, it would advance to a Sunday quarterfinal match-up with fourth-seeded Georgetown (22-7, 11-5 BE) at noon.
• The Hoyas are ranked No. 12 in this week's AP poll.
• The Orange and Hoyas met twice this season, with Georgetown winning both, 69-42 on Jan. 15 at McDonough Gym, and 65-62 on Feb. 25 at the Carrier Dome.
• SU committed 31 turnovers and shot just 25 percent in the first game, but bounced back with strong performance in the second meeting leading late in a game that featured 11 lead changes. Iasia Hemingway had 20 points and 15 rebounds, while Sugar Rodgers had 21 for the Hoyas, including a 3-point play with 39 seconds left that erased a two-point Syracuse lead and propelled the Hoyas to the win.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
• Dominant rebounding has become the norm for the Orange in recent years. As of the last NCAA stats update on Monday, Syracuse ranked fourth in the NCAA in rebounding, averaging 46.1 per game and ranked 11th in rebounding margin (+9.4).
• In the BIG EAST, SU leads the conference in rebounds per game (45.9), offensive rebounds (20.4) and is third in rebounding margin (+9.6).
• SU has three of the top 15 rebounders in the league (7. Carmen Tyson-Thomas, 7.8; 11. Kayla Alexander, 7.3; and 15. Iasia Hemingway, 6.6.
• Syracuse led the NCAA in rebounding margin last season at +13.4 per game. SU outrebounded 31 of its 35 opponents.

STRONG AT THE STRIPE
• An aggressive, attacking style of offense results in the Orange ranking third in the NCAA in free throws made (528) and sixth free throws attempted (694).
• Syracuse ranks second in the BIG EAST in free throw shooting percentage at .761.
• Carmen Tyson-Thomas leads the Orange with a .881 mark from the free throw line this season.
• 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 Iasia Hemingway setting a school record with 15 free throws in 16 attempts.

ALEXANDER CONTROLS THE POST
• Junior center Kayla Alexander is the Orange's second-leading scorer (14.9 ppg.) and second-leading rebounder (7.3 rpg.) this season. She ranks ninth in the BIG EAST in scoring and 11th in rebounding, while leading the conference in blocked shots (79 total, 2.6 per game).
• Alexander has scored 1,368 points in 102 career games. The junior passed Holly Oslander (1989-94) for sixth all-time at SU vs. Georgetown (2/25).
• 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 is second on Syracuse's career blocked shot list with 239 after passing Vaida Sipaviciute (2005-08) with eight rejections vs. Georgetown (2/25).
• Alexander is second on SU's career free throws made list at 379.She now trails Nicole Michael (2007-10) by 46 for the most in SU history.

HEMINGWAY SPARKS ORANGE
• Senior Iasia Hemingway has reached double figures in scoring in 24 of 30 games this season and reached the 30-point mark three times. She leads the team in scoring (15.6 ppg), ranking seventh in the BIG EAST, and averages 6.6 rebounds (15th in the BIG EAST).
• Hemingway played the first two years of her career at Georgia Tech before transferring to SU. She scored her 1,500th career point in a 20-point, 15-rebound, 6-assist performance vs. Georgetown (2/25) on Senior Day. 912 of her 1,537 points have come in her two seasons at SU.
• She scored a career-high 33 points, including a school-record 15 free throws in 16 attempts, in a win at Pitt (1/7).
• She set a then-career-high with 31 points to go along with 13 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season vs. Colgate on Dec. 31.

TYSON-THOMAS MAKES IMPACT
• Junior Carmen Tyson-Thomas ranks third on the team in scoring (11.1 ppg.) and leads the club in rebounding at 7.8 per game, seventh in the BIG EAST, 3.6 of which come at the offensive end, fourth in the conference.
• Tyson-Thomas has come on strong since moving out of the starting lineup and serving as the sixth man the last four games, averaging 14.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.5 steals and 2.5 assists in that span.
• The versatile swing player stuffed the stat sheet in a win at No. 21/18 DePaul (2/21) with 22 points, a career-high 15 rebounds, five steals and four assists.
• She had a streak of three-straight double-doubles (12/29, 12/31, 1/3) and had scored in double figures in five-straight. She has seven double-doubles on the season and 16 in her career.

HALL DISPLAYS ALL-AROUND GAME
• Do-everything junior Elashier Hall has shown her versatility this season, averaging 8.1 points per game to go along with 5.0 rebounds per contest, all while leading the team with 95 assists and is second in steals (51).
• She averaged 14.5 points and 6.5 assists in two games, wins over Marquette and No. 21/18 DePaul.
• Hall had 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and hit a key 3-pointer in the final minute of SU's comeback win at Seton Hall (1/22).
• 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
• SU's key post presence off the bench, sophomore Shakeya Leary is averaging 5.7 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game. That equates to 14.8 rebounds per 40 minutes of action.
• She led the Orange with 13 rebounds against Long Beach State. Leary also had 10 rebounds against Binghamton, 10 at Boise State (11/29) and 10 vs. Xavier (12/18).
• Leary scored a career-high 15 points in 19 minutes at Providence (1/31).

BULLARD COMING ON STRONG
• Sophomore wing Phylesha Bullard has become one of the Orange's key players off the bench in recent games. After averaging 1.5 points and 1.6 rebounds in 8.9 minutes over the first 20 games, she has averaged 5.5 points and 3.7 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per contest in SU's last 10 contests, including starts in the last four.
• Bullard scored six points and grabbed five rebounds vs. No. 3 UConn (1/25), and then tied a career-high with eight points vs. Cincinnati (1/28) and set a new career-nest with seven rebounds.

COFFEY RUNNING THE POINT
• Sophomore Rachel Coffey had a career game at No. 21/18 DePaul on Feb. 21, setting career-highs in points (22), rebounds (8), assists (7), and 3-pointers (6).
• Coffey has been a major threat from the outside of late, shooting 24-of-52 (.462) from 3-point range in the last 10 games, while averaging 3.2 assists per game in that stretch.
• Coffey has started 20 games in a row at point guard. She is averaging 4.7 points and ranks second on the squad in assists (86). She had a previous-best six-assist game vs. Ohio (12/20) and matched it vs. Marquette (2/18).

TWO McDONALD'S ALl-AMERICANS
• Syracuse NLI signees Brianna Butler (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Brittney Sykes (Newark, N.J.) were two of 24 high school seniors named 2012 McDonald's All-Americans on Feb 9.
• They are the third and fourth SU signees to have garnered the honor, and the first time the Orange has had multiple McDonald's All-Americans in the same class.
• Erica Morrow (2007) and Juanita Ward (2005) are the only other Syracuse players to be named McDonald's All-Americans.
• Connecticut (3), Baylor (2), Duke (2), Notre Dame (2) and Texas A&M (2) were the only other programs with multiple signees named to the teams.
• ESPN Hoopgurlz ranks SU's signing class as the sixth-best in the country with three top 100 recruits, highlighted by No. 13 overall Butler, a 6-0 combo guard, and No. 30 overall Sykes, a 5-9 combo guard.

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 115-78 (.596). 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.

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