#22 Orange faces #25 Iowa in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

No. 22/23 Syracuse (8-0) at No. 25/rv Iowa (8-1)
Game Details	Big Ten/ACC Challenge Thursday, Dec. 5 \| 7 p.m. ET \| Iowa City, Iowa Carver-Hawkeye Arena (15,000)
Game Coverage	TV: Big Ten Network Radio: ESPN 97.7/100.1 FM & 1200 AM \| Orange All-Access Live Stats Twitter: @CuseWBB \| @cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Game Notes
Cornell Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats

Follow @CuseWBB

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The No. 22/23 Syracuse women's basketball team (8-0) heads to Iowa to face the No. 25 Hawyekes (8-1) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Thursday at 7 p.m. ET at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
• SU is ranked for the first time this season after going 3-0 last week at the Paradise Jam in the U.S. Virgin Islands, beating Texas, Memphis and No. 12/11 Texas A&M all by double-digits to win the Reef Division title and stay unbeaten this season.

GAME COVERAGE
• The game will be televised nationally on the Big Ten Network with Lisa Byington and LaChina Robinson on the call.
• 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.
• As always, follow @CuseWBB on Twitter for live in-game updates.

UNDEFEATED ORANGE
• Syracuse is 8-0 for the fifth time in program history and third time in the last five years under head coach Quentin Hillsman.
• The longest undefeated run to start a season was in 2009-10 when SU started 12-0 on its way to 25-11.
• The other seasons SU started 8-0 were: 1974-75, 1978-79, 2009-10 and 2010-11.

AN ORANGE WIN WOULD...
• ...make Syracuse 9-0 for the third time in program history, joining the 1974-75 and 2009-10 seasons.
• ...be SU's first in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
• ...give Syracuse five wins away from home against BCS conference teams this season.
• ...make SU 1-2 all-time against the Hawkeyes and 1-1 in games at Iowa.
• ...make SU 39-6 (.867) in Dec. games since 2007-08.

SERIES HISTORIES
• Iowa leads the all-time series with Syracuse, 2-0. The teams last met 14 years ago, a 76-73 Hawkeyes win on Nov. 28, 1999 in Iowa City. The teams met the previous year on Dec. 5, with Iowa winning, 70-64, at Manley Field House.

#ORANGENATION SUCCESS
• Syracuse is one of only five schools in the country, as of Dec. 4, to have both its men's and women's basketball teams undefeated. Connecticut, Iowa State, St. Mary's and Villanova are the others. The No. 22/23 Orange women are 8-0, while the No. 4/5 men are 8-0 as well.
• In 2012-13, Syracuse was one of only eight schools in the country to have both its men's and women's basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament and their football team have played in a bowl game (Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, UCLA).
• Of those eight, SU was one of only five to have won its bowl game (Louisville, Michigan, Michigan State, Oklahoma State).

NOVEMBERS TO REMEMBER
• Syracuse went 8-0 in the month of November this season, its fifth-straight undefeated opening month of the season. The Orange's November winning streak is now at 32 games.
• Since 2007, Syracuse is 37-3 (.925) in November. It has not lost since Nov. 26, 2008 at Alaska-Anchorage, 58-57.

IN THE POLLS
• Syracuse broke into the Associated Press Top 25 this week, ranking 22nd with 132 points, just one spot from its all-time program-high. The Orange had received just one vote the previous 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.
• The Orange peaked in the polls on the week of Feb. 18 when it was 21-3, setting all-time highs of No. 21 in the AP and No. 18 in the coaches' poll.

'CUSE DOMINATES IN VIRGIN ISLANDS
• Syracuse posted three convincing double-digit wins over BCS teams over Thanksgiving to win the Paradise Jam's Reef Division in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands. SU beat Texas (77-65), Memphis (77-58) and No. 12/11 Texas A&M (78-63).
• It was the Orange's second-straight undefeated trip to the Caribbean. SU beat Georgia Tech (75-72 OT) and Virginia (74-73) to go 2-0 last Thanksgiving in the San Juan Shootout.
• Syracuse was named espnW's "Team of the Week" after winning the Paradise Jam.

THE BUTLER DID IT
• Sophomore guard Brianna Butler earned Paradise Jam Reef Division MVP, ACC Player of the Week and espnW Player of the Week honors after a huge three-game performance in the Virgin Islands in which she led the team in scoring all three games, averaging 23.3 points and shot 57.5 percent overall, including a stellar 14-of-26 (53.8 percent) from 3-point range.
• After scoring 18 vs. Texas, she matched her previous career-high with 23 vs. Memphis before shattering that with 29 vs. No. 12/11 Texas A&M.

WINS VS. RANKED TEAMS
• Syracuse's 15-point win over the No. 12/11 Aggies on Saturday was the fourth-highest ranked opponent the Orange has ever beaten.
• Four of the top five ranked teams SU has ever beaten have come in Quentin Hillsman's tenure as head coach.

THE ORANGE ZONE
• When people think 2-3 zone, they think Syracuse, and the women's program is now adding to that lore. The Orange is holding its opponents to the third-lowest field goal percentage in the ACC and 17th in the NCAA at .321. In 2012-13, SU's opponents had the second-lowest shooting percentage in the BIG EAST and 18th-lowest nationally (.346).
• SU is also proving wrong the myth that zone teams are susceptible to 3-point shooting. SU is holding its opponents to the second-lowest 3-point field goal percentage in the ACC and 13th nationally (.230). In 2012-13, its opponents had the worst 3-point shooting percentage in the BIG EAST (.275).

MASTER THIEVES
• The Orange boasts the best turnover margin in the ACC at +9.3 and has produced an average of 28.5 points per game this season off its opponents' 23.1 turnovers per game.
• In its three wins at the Paradise Jam, the Orange forced at least 20 turnovers by its opponents each game.
• SU ranks fourth in the ACC with 11.3 steals per game.
• Syracuse scored 53 points off 31 turnovers in its 113-42 win vs. Maryland Eastern Shore. SU totaled 18 steals by nine different players.
• SU's 2012-13 opponents averaged 20.3 turnovers per game, resulting in a +3.94 turnover margin. The Orange scored 20.5 points per game off turnovers.

Syracuse University Athletics

#22 Orange faces #25 Iowa in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

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