Orange & Hawks Meet in Pre-Holiday Matinee

No. 23/rv Syracuse (10-1) vs. rv/-- Saint Joseph's (9-1)
Game Details	Saturday, Dec. 21 \| 1 p.m. ET \| Syracuse, N.Y. Carrier Dome (35,121) \| Tickets \| Directions
Game Coverage	Watch: Orange All Access Radio: ESPN 97.7/100.1 FM & 1200 AM \| Orange All-Access Live Stats Twitter: @CuseWBB \| @cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Game Notes
Saint Joseph's Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Game Notes

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 23 Syracuse women's basketball team (10-1) concludes its three-game homestand on Saturday when it hosts Saint Joseph's (9-1) in a 1 p.m. tip-off at the Carrier Dome.

GAME COVERAGE
• All the Orange's games can be heard live on SU's flagship station, ESPN 97.7/100.7 FM and 1200 AM, and on Orange All-Access at SUAthletics.com with Brian Higgins '04 on the call. Free live stats are also available at SUathletics.com.
• The game can be watched live online on Orange All Access at SUathletics.com.
• As always, follow @CuseWBB on Twitter for live in-game updates.

HOT START TO '13-14
• Syracuse is 10-1 for the fifth time in program history and third time in the last four years under head coach Quentin Hillsman. The mark is bettered only by the start of 11-0 in 2009-10.
• The longest undefeated run to start a season was in 2009-10 when SU started 12-0 on its way to 25-11.

AN ORANGE WIN WOULD...
• ...make Syracuse 11-1 after 12 games for the third time in the last four seasons and fifth time overall. It has been 12-0 once, in 2009-10.
• ...run its non-conference home winning streak to 60 games, dating back to the 2006-07 season.
• ...make SU 4-0 all-time against Saint Joseph's, including 2-0 at home.
• ...make SU 41-7 (.854) in Dec. games since 2007-08.

SERIES HISTORY
• Syracuse is 3-0 all-time against Saint Joseph's, including last season's 80-39 Orange win in Philadelphia.
• On Nov. 20, 2012 at Hagan Arena, Seniors Carmen Tyson-Thomas and Kayla Alexander poured in 23 and 20 points, respectively, to lead Syracuse to a 80-39 victory over the Hawks.
• 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.
• Last year's game ended a 22-year gap in the series. SU won 50-47 on Dec. 4, 1987 in Charlottesville, Va. and 74-68 in overtime on Nov. 24, 1991 in the Carrier Classic.

SCOUTING SAINT JOE'S
• Saint Joseph's comes into the game with an impressive 9-1 record. The Hawks are receiving votes in the AP poll and are currently ranked No. 5 by RealTimeRPI.com and No. 20 by the Sagarin/CBN ratings.
• Saint Joe's is coming off a 10-day layoff. Its only loss was at LSU in the Preseason WNIT on Nov. 10, 80-64. Most recently, it has picked up road wins at Quinnipiac (84-69), Temple (73-53) and Villanova (63-60) before returning home to beat Hofstra on Dec. 10 (73-60).
• Senior guard Erin Shields is the top scorer at 15.8 ppg, closely followed by sophomore forward Sarah Fairbanks at 15.6 ppg. Shields is shooting 45.7 percent (32-70) from 3-point range, while Fairbanks has done her damage inside, shooting 59 percent overall and grabbing a team-best 6.4 rebounds per game.
• Point guard Natasha Cloud ranks fifth in the country in assists per game with 8.0.
• Freshman forward Lisanne de Jonge is from Nijmegen, Netherlands and has played in the Dutch junior national program with Orange freshman Isabella Slim. They played together this past summer in the U19 World Championships with Quentin Hillsman serving on their coaching staff. Slim averaged 9.6 ppg, while de Jonge contributed 6.5 ppg.
• Cindy Griffin (Saint Joseph's '91) is in her 13^th season as head coach at her alma mater, where she is 232-157.

NON-CONFERENCE HOME STREAK
• Syracuse has won 59 non-conference home games in a row, dating back to the 2006-07 season, Quentin Hillsman's first season as head coach at SU. He is 61-5 in his career in such games.
• The Orange is 5-0 in out-of-conference play at the Dome this season and went 6-0 last season.
• SU's last non-conference home loss was on Dec. 22, 2006 to Canisius (56-43).
• In 2010-11 SU was 14-0, 12-0 in 2009-10, 8-0 in 2008-09, and 7-0 in 2007-08.

IN THE POLLS
• Syracuse moved up two spots in this week's Associated Press Top 25, ranking 23rd with 120 points. In the USA TODAY Coaches Poll, SU is the top "receiving votes" team for the second week in a row.
• The Orange debuted in the AP poll on Dec. 2 at No. 22 with 132 points, just one spot from its all-time program-high and dropped three spots to No. 25 last week.
• SU was ranked No. 22 in both the final AP and USA TODAY Coaches polls last season. It was ranked for seven-straight weeks in the AP poll and 10-straight weeks in the coaches poll, both program records.

LAST TIME OUT
• Freshman Isabella Slim scored a career-high 17 points and Brittney Sykes had her third-straight 20-point performance to lead Syracuse to an 80-44 victory over Niagara (2-6) on Thursday night in the Carrier Dome.
• Slim went a personal-best 5-of-8 from beyond the arc and Shakeya Leary rounded out SU double-digit scorers with 13 points. Rachel Coffey scored nine points off 3-of-5 3-point shooting.
• Syracuse dominated in transition, outscoring Niagara 19-2 on fast breaks and 27-6 off 27 Purple Eagles turnovers. The Orange made its first 16 free throws on its way to finishing 22-of-28.

UP NEXT
• Syracuse returns to action on Monday, Dec. 30 when it closes non-conference play at Arizona State. The Orange and Sun Devils will tip off at 8 p.m. ET.

Syracuse University Athletics

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