Orange At Toledo In WNIT Quarterfinal

Syracuse at Toledo
Game Details	Saturday, March 24 \| Toledo, Ohio \| 2 p.m. Savage Arena \| WNIT Bracket
Game Coverage	TV: None Radio: ESPN 97.7 FM/1200 AM, WJPZ 89.1 FM Orange All Access: Audio \| Live Stats Twitter: @SyracuseWBB @Cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule
Toledo Links	Roster \| Schedule

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - For the third year in a row, the Syracuse has advanced to the WNIT quarterfinals, and for the second year in a row, the Orange (21-14) will play at Toledo (24-9) in that round. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday at Savage Arena.
• The Orange is coming off three-straight postseason road wins, the first three in program history. SU opened with a 59-42 win at Hartford on March16 before winning at Drexel, 65-43, on Monday, and at Temple, 82-68, on Thursday.
• The winner of this game will face the winner of Virginia vs. the USF-James Madison winner in the semifinals.

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.
• Links to free video and live stats will be available at SUathletics.com.

'CUSE IN THE NIT
• Syracuse is making its fourth consecutive appearance in the Women's National Invitation Tournament and fifth postseason appearance in a row (NCAA in 2008).
• SU is 10-3 all-time in the WNIT and has advanced to the quarterfinals three seasons in a row now, winning three games in the tournament each year.
• In 2011, SU beat Monmouth (77-53), St. Bonaventure (63-50) and Eastern Michigan (72-63) at home before losing to eventual-champion Toledo in overtime on the road, 71-68.
• In 2010, SU beat Harvard (87-68), Richmond (69-55) and Virginia Commonwealth (74-59) before falling to Michigan (78-52).
• In 2009, the Orange went 1-1 in its first NIT appearance ever, beating Canisius (90-65) at the Carrier Dome for the program's first-ever postseason victory. SU then lost at Bowling Green, 72-69, in the second round.

SERIES HISTORY
• The only other time these two programs have played was in this very game last season, the WNIT quarterfinals. The Rockets outscored the Orange, 9-6, in overtime to come away with a 71-68 victory at Savage Arena.
• Erica Morrow, in her final game in a SU uniform, led the Orange with 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Kayla Alexander added 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Toledo was led by Naama Shafir with 22 points and nine rebounds. Yolanda Richardson added 13 points.
• SU led by as many as 13 in the first half and by 11 with 14:25 left in regulation. (see box score on page 3)

SCOUTING TOLEDO
• The Rockets are 24-9 on the season and went 13-3 in the Mid-American Conference.
• They had a 10-game winning streak from mid-Jan. to mid-Feb.
• After a MAC Tournament-opening win vs. Northern Illinois (49-39), Toledo lost to Eastern Michigan in the semifinals, 59-57.
• In this WNIT, Toledo has beaten Detroit (59-49), Cincinnati (72-51) and VCU (81-64) to run its streak to nine-straight wins at home in the last two postseasons.
• Andola Dortch leads a trio of double figure scorers at 13.3 points per game with a team-high 157 assists. Courtney Ingersoll scores 12.0 ppg and has hit 94 3-pointers this season, shooting 45 percent from deep. Yolanda Richardson (10.3 ppg) is the post presence at both ends of the floor with 69 blocks.
• Tricia Collup is in her fourth season as head coach of the Rockets and her 12 overall. She has led them to three-straight postseasons, including the 2011 WNIT title.

ORANGE CAGES OWLS
• Kayla Alexander's 29 points led four Orange players in double figures as Syracuse defeated Temple 82-68 in the third round on Thursday night at McGonigle Hall. Alexander scored 17 of her points in the second half as SU advances to play at Toledo in the quarterfinals of the tournament for the second straight season.
• Alexander, who moved into eighth place on Syracuse's all-time scoring list (1,418) on Thursday, also tied a SU postseason record for points in a game, and set new marks for field goals made (12) and blocks (six) while Rachel Coffey set a new program postseason record with eight assists, a career-best.
• The Orange 47-percent (30-of-64) for the game, including a 18-of-33 (55-percent) performance in the second half. Despite being outrebounded 43-42, SU dominated inside with 42 points in the paint.

ORANGE SLAYS DRAGONS
• Syracuse used a 21-2 run and held Drexel without a point for nearly six minutes down the stretch to knock off the Dragons (19-14) on Monday night at Daskalakis Athletic Center in the second round of the WNIT, 65-43.
• With the victory, the Orange reaches the 20-win plateau for the fourth consecutive season, and fifth time in the past six seasons.
• Syracuse had four players reach double-figures, led by Kayla Alexander's 16 points and 11 rebounds. Philadelphia native Carmen Tyson-Thomas also recorded a double-double, her eighth of the season, with 13 points and a game-high 12 boards in her first start in seven games.

WNIT OPENING WIN AT HARTFORD
• Leading by six at halftime, Syracuse came out of the break on a 16-3 run to knock off Hartford (19-13) in the first round of the WNIT on March 16 at Chase Family Arena, 59-42.
• All nine SU players entered the scoring column as Syracuse shot 20-of-53 from the floor, led by 12 points from Rachel Coffey. The Orange also turned 22 Hartford turnovers into 26 points. The Hawks were 14-of-52 (27%) for the game.
• The win was the Orange's first on the road in postseason play in program history.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
• Dominant rebounding has become the norm for the Orange in recent years. Syracuse ranks third in the NCAA in rebounding, averaging 45.9 per game and ranks ninth in rebounding margin (+9.0).
• In the BIG EAST, SU leads the conference in rebounds per game (45.9), offensive rebounds (20.2) and is third in rebounding margin (+9.0).
• SU has three of the top 15 rebounders in the league (7. Carmen Tyson-Thomas, 7.7; 9. Kayla Alexander, 7.3; and 15. Iasia Hemingway, 6.3.
• 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 (593) and fifth in free throws attempted (785).
• Syracuse ranks second in the BIG EAST and 22nd nationally in free throw shooting percentage at .755.
• Iasia Hemingway has set program records in free throws made (191) and attempted (243) and ranks fourth and fifth, respectively, in the NCAA.
• Carmen Tyson-Thomas leads the Orange with a .861 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 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 (14.7 ppg.) and second-leading rebounder (7.3 rpg.) this season. She ranks 11th in the BIG EAST in scoring and ninth in rebounding. She also leads the conference in blocked shots (90 total, 2.6 per game).
• Alexander has scored 1,418 points in 106 career games. The junior passed Martha Mogish (1978-81) for fifth in SU history on Thursday at Temple with a 29-point explosion.
• 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 250 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 396. She now trails Nicole Michael (2007-10) by 29 for the most in SU history.

HEMINGWAY SPARKS ORANGE
• Senior Iasia Hemingway has reached double figures in scoring in 26 of 35 games this season and reached the 30-point mark three times. She leads the team in scoring (14.8 ppg), ranking eighth in the BIG EAST, and averages 6.3 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. 963 of her 1,588 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 (11.0 ppg.) and leads the club in rebounding at 7.7 per game, seventh in the BIG EAST, 3.5 of which come at the offensive end, fifth-best in the conference.
• Tyson-Thomas has come on strong since moving out of the starting lineup and serving as the sixth man for seven games before starting the last two, averaging 12.2 points, 8.4 rebounds (team-best) and 2.4 steals in the last nine games.
• 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.
• Tyson-Thomas is coming off back-to-back double-double performances at Drexel and Temple, averaging 14 points and 11.5 rebounds. She has nine double-doubles on the season and 18 in her career.

Syracuse University Athletics

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