#23 Orange Travel to #2 UConn

rv/23 Syracuse (15-1, 3-0) at 2/3 Connecticut (15-1 3-1)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 19 \| Hartford, Conn. \| 4 p.m. XL Center \| Tickets \| Directions
Game Coverage	TV: SNY (Syracuse Time Warner Cable channels 54 & 808) Radio: ESPN 97.7 FM/1200 AM (Brian Higgins), WJPZ 89.1 FM Orange All Access: Listen \| Live Stats Twitter: @SyracuseWBB \| @Cuse Facebook: /SyracuseWBB
Syracuse Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats
UConn Links	Game Notes \| Roster \| Schedule \| Stats

VIDEO: Coach Q Interview | Alexander & Hall Interviews

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The rv/23 Syracuse Orange women's basketball team (15-1, 3-0) travels to Hartford to take on No. 3/2 Connecticut (15-1, 3-1) on Saturday in a 4 p.m. tip-off at the XL Center.

• Kayla Alexander (1,767 points) enters the game 20 points behind Nicole Michael's (2007-10) school record of 1,787 career points.
• Syracuse has tied its best start ever in program history at 15-1 and its best conference start ever at 3-0, resulting in breaking into the coaches' poll top 25 for the first time this season.
• The Orange is coming off a 84-80 vicotry over DePaul on Tuesday that ran its home record to 8-0. SU opened BIG EAST play with a 92-79 win at Marquette on Jan. 5 before beating Georgetown, 86-56, on Jan. 12. SU completed a 12-1 non-conference slate, tied for the second-best in program history.

GAME COVERAGE
• Saturday's game will be televised live on SportsNet New York (SNY) with Andrew Catalon, Meg Culmo and Kerith Burke on the call.
• 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. Saturday's game will also be on WJPZ 89.1 FM.
• Orange All Access at SUAthletics.com will have live audio of the game, while SUAthletics.com will also have free live stats.

HOT STARTERS
• Syracuse is 15-1 for just the second time in program history, tying the program's best mark set in 2009-10.
• SU's 3-0 BIG EAST record ties its best start ever set in 1985-86. The Orange eventually reached 6-0 in-conference that season before finishing 12-3.
• Syracuse's men's and women's basketball programs are a combined 31-2, the second-best mark of any school in the country (Duke, 31-1).
• SU blitzed through its non-conference slate with 12-1 record, tied for the second-best regular season non-conference record in program history.
• The Orange went 13-0 in regular season non-conference games in 2009-10. This season's 12-1 mark matches 2007-08 and 2010-11.
• The top six non-conference regular seasons have come in Quentin Hillsman's seven seasons as head coach.

ORANGE ROAD SHOW
• The Orange is a combined 7-1 in away and neutral site games this season.
• Syracuse opened the season by playing seven of eight games away from the Carrier Dome, going 6-1, including 4-1 on the opponent's court. SU's 4-0 away-game record in November was the best among all BCS conference teams, ahead of Arkansas (3-0) and Arizona (3-0). Its 6-0 record in neutral-site and away games combined was also the best among major conference teams.
• Going back to last season, SU played 15 out of 16 games away from home between the regular season finale on Feb. 27 and this season's eighth game on Dec. 2.
• The Orange's 10-5 record on the road in 2011-12 was the best in program history in terms of wins, surpassing seven, done most recently in 2007-08, and is the best in terms of winning percentage (.667) since 1978-79 (7-1, .875).
• In last season's WNIT, Syracuse won four consecutive away games for the first time in 22 years.

'CUSE CRACKS TOP 25
• Syracuse is ranked No. 23 in this week's USA TODAY Coaches Poll, its first ranking since Jan. 31, 2011 (No. 25) and its highest since Dec. 29, 2009 (No. 23). SU's all-time high is No. 22.
• The Orange received a season-high 39 points in this week's Associated Press poll, one spot out of the top 25.

SERIES HISTORY
• Syracuse is 12-35 all-time against Connecticut, including 7-15 at home against the Huskies.
• In last season's meeting on Jan. 25 before a record crowd of 4,357 at the Carrier Dome, the Orange led by as many as seven in the first half before the Huskies took a seven-point lead at the half, 40-33, and pulled away in the second half, 95-54. Tiffany Hayes led UConn with 35 points on 6-of-8 3-point shooting, while Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis added 19 and Bria Hartley had 18. The Orange was led by Iasia Hemingway's 15 points, while Carmen Tyson-Thomas added 11.
• SU's last win against UConn was Jan. 2, 1996, a 62-59 victory at Manley Field House.

SCOUTING UCONN
• The Huskies come into the game 15-1 overall and 3-1 in the BIG EAST, ranking No. 3 in the AP poll and No. 2 in the coaches poll. Its only loss came at home to Notre Dame, 73-72, on Jan. 5. Most recently, the Huskies defeated No. 15 Louisville, 72-58, on Tuesday at the XL Center. UConn's other conference wins are against Georgetown (75-48) and Marquette (85-51).
• Sophomore Kaleena Mosquedo-Lewis leads the balanced UConn attack at 16.5 points per game, including 49 percent shooting from behind the arc. Freshman Breanna Stewart (Syracuse, N.Y.) is scoring 14.6 ppg, while center Stefanie Dolson and guard Kelly Faris add 13.1 and 10.6 ppg, respectively.
• The Huskies are shooting 50 percent as a team, including 37 percent from 3-point range.
• Hall of Famer Geno Auriemma is in his 28th season as head coach. The 2012 Olympic gold medaling-winning coach for Team USA has won seven national titles.

ORANGE OUTLASTS DEPAUL
• Senior Kayla Alexander registered her seventh double-double the season with 24 points and 17 rebounds as the Orange defeated DePaul, 84-80, on Tuesday. Senior Elashier Hall tied her career-high with 23 points while leading the team with five steals.
• The game featured 13 lead changes, but the Orange was able to hold off the Blue Demons. After trading leads the entire game, two free throws by Alexander at 7:40 in the second half began a 12-0 run for the Orange that propelled them to a 71-65 advantage after being down, 65-59.
• DePaul pulled within one in the final two minutes, but Carmen Tyson-Thomas (eight points, 12 rebounds) scored with 56 seconds left and SU went 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the final minute to win.

SYKES EARNING ROOKIE HONORS
• Syracuse guard Brittney Sykes was named BIG EAST Freshman of the Week two consecutive weeks on Dec. 31 and Jan. 7.
• The Newark, N.J. native and 2012 McDonald's All-American has come on strong recently, averaging 14.3 points and 7.5 rebounds over the last four games.
• Sykes has scored in double figures in five out of the last seven games, averaging 12.6 ppg and 7.0 rebounds over those sevencontests, after posting 5.6 points and 4.1 rebounds per game in the first nine.

DOMINATING THE GLASS
• Dominant rebounding has become the norm for the Orange in recent years. Syracuse is averaging 46.2 rebounds per game, with the most impressive showing being a 61-35 advantage on Nov. 20 at St. Joe's.
• In the BIG EAST, SU leads the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (19.1), is second in total rebounds per game (46.2) and third in rebounding margin (+9.8).
• Kayla Alexander (836) and Carmen Tyson-Thomas (809) rank fifth and seventh on the Syracuse career rebounding list.
• SU finished second in the NCAA in rebounding in 2011-12, averaging 46.2 per game and ranked 11th in rebounding margin (+8.9).
• Syracuse led the NCAA in rebounding margin in 2010-11 at +13.4 per game. SU outrebounded 31 of its 35 opponents.

STEAL MASTERS
• Syracuse's fullcourt pressure defense and aggressive 2-3 zone in the halfcourt have resulted in the Orange leading the BIG EAST in steals and ranking fourth nationally, averaging 13.8 per game.
• SU set a Carrier Dome record with 21 steals against Boise State on Dec. 30, breaking the old record of 20 on Dec. 14, 2008 vs. Niagara. The program record is 31 (vs. Marist on Jan. 11, 1980).
• SU's thievery has been a balanced effort, with Carmen Tyson-Thomas (2.1 per game), Elashier Hall (2.1) and Brittney Sykes (1.9 per game) leading the way.
• Syracuse's opponents are averaging 23.0 turnovers per game, resulting in a +5.62 turnover margin.

ALEXANDER: SETTING RECORDS
• Senior center Kayla Alexander continues to rewrite the SU record book as she cements herself as one of the greatest players in program history. She has scored 1,767 points in 124 career games, just 20 behind Nicole Michael's (2007-10) program record of 1,787.
• She passed Erica Morrow's (2008-11) 1,658 for second all-time at Syracuse with 20 points in Dec. 4's 83-48 win vs. Loyola.
• Alexander is coming off a dominating 24-point, 17-rebound, 4-block effort vs. DePaul.
• She has twice been BIG EAST Player of the Week (Nov. 19, Dec. 10).
• Alexander scored a career-high 34 points, single-handedly outscoring Wagner in SU's 66-28 win on Dec. 4. Her night included a Carrier Dome-record 14 field goals made. It was the most points scored in a game by an SU player since Nicole Michael's 36 vs. Binghamton on Nov. 22, 2009.
• 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 314 to Oslander's 262.
• Alexander, a two-time All-BIG EAST selection and preseason All-Conference honoree, leads the Orange in scoring (19.8 ppg), rebounding (8.9 rpg) and blocks (3.6 bpg).

TYSON-THOMAS MAKES IMPACT
• Senior Carmen Tyson-Thomas became the 22nd Orange player to reach the 1,000-point mark in SU's 66-28 win vs. Wagner on Dec. 4. On the season she is averaging 10.7 points and 6.1 rebounds.
• The Philadelphia native recorded her 19th career double-double with 23 points and 11 rebounds in Nov. 20's win at Saint Joseph's. She had a team-high 18 points in her hometown against Temple on Dec. 2.
• The 5-9 swing player recorded double-digit rebounds 12 times in 2011-12 and hauled in a season-high 12 boards on Tuesday vs. DePaul to go with eight points.

HALL DISPLAYS ALL-AROUND GAME
• Do-everything guard Elashier Hall has been just that for the Orange thus far in 2012-13, averaging 10.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game.
• She is coming off a career-high tying 23-point effort vs. DePaul on Tuesday with six assists and five steals.
• 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 of 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 is closing in on becoming the 23rd 1,000-point scorer in program history. She is at 951 points.
• 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 78.7 points per game, third in the BIG EAST.
• Coffey (20.6 minutes/game) has come off the bench in every game but one to rank third in the BIG EAST in assists (5.0 apg), while compiling an impressive 80-to-35 assist-to-turnover ratio (2.5) that ranks second-best in the BIG EAST. She has 25 assists and just seven turnovers over the last four games (Boise State, Marquette, Georgetown, DePaul).
• Coffey has been the top outside-shooting threat for the Orange all season, making 37 percent (23-62) of her shots from behind the arc.
• Coffey had her first career double-double at Temple on Dec. 2, dishing out a career-best 10 assists and scoring 11 points in a season-high 37 minutes.
• Fondren (18.4 minutes/game) has started 15 of 16 games at the point. She has 25 assists against 12 turnovers (2.1 a/to ratio) over the last seven games, including a career-high six-assists with just one turnover vs. Loyola on Dec. 8.
• The rookie played well against ACC competition in the Orange's wins in Puerto Rico, averaging four assists.
• Fondren has been a selective, yet effective, shooter from the outside for SU. She is 4-of-8 from 3-point range this season.
• 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.

UP NEXT
• The Orange heads to Queens, N.Y. on Wednesday to face St. John's in an 11:30 a.m. tip-off at Carnesecca Arena.

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