#25 Iowa Tops #22 Orange in Shootout, 97-91

Thursday, December 5

Iowa City, Iowa

7 p.m.

Syracuse University

8-1

Iowa

9-1

Syracuse

Iowa

12/5/2013 9:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Box Score | Season Stats

IOWA CITY, Iowa - Melissa Dixon scored 27 points, all in the second half on 7-of-10 3-point shooting, to lead No. 25 Iowa (9-1) to a 97-91 comeback win over No. 22 Syracuse (8-1) in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday night.

The Orange led by as many as 14 in the first half and 10 at halftime, but the Hawkeyes used hot shooting to score 60 points in the second half to win the game that featured eight lead changes.

Brittney Sykes led Syracuse with 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting and added 10 rebounds for her first double-double of the season and third of the sophomore guard's career. Rachel Coffey added 14 points and a team-high seven assists, while Brianna Butler (12) and Briana Day (10) rounded out the four Orange in double figures.

After being held scoreless in the first half, Dixon went 7-of-11 from the field in the second half with all but one of her shots coming from 3-point range. Center Benthany Doolittle added 25 points, 17 of which came in the first half.

After a Coffey drive and score with 12:13 left put the Orange up 12, 66-54, Iowa went on a 18-5 run, fueled by eight points from Dixon and capped off by a Kali Peschel bucket inside that gave Iowa the lead, 72-71, with 7:28 left.

The teams traded leads four times over the next two minutes before a Samantha Logic layup at the 5:26 mark gave Iowa the lead, one which would grow to five, 85-80, on an Ally Disterhoft 3-point play with 4:01 left and reached its final margin, six, 93-87, on Dixon's seventh 3-pointer of the night with 9 seconds left. SU drew within three, 94-91, with 16 seconds left, but Iowa made 3-of-4 at the free throw line in the final seconds to ice the game.

The Orange shot 47.9 percent overall, including 10-of-30 from 3-point land, while Iowa shot 50 percent, including a 58.1 percent clip in the second half, and was 11-of-20 from behind the arc.

The game started out a back and forth affair, with the teams trading leads six times in the first 10 minutes. The Orange took control with a 14-2 run over a four-minute span, finished off with a Butler 3-pointer, her second of the run, at the 7:53 mark to give SU a 29-20 lead.

The Syracuse run turned into a 24-7 advantage over a period of 7:43, with a pair of Isabella Slim free throws making the Orange advantage its largest of the half, 39-25, with 4:06 on the clock.

Iowa then went on a run of its own, 12-3, to pull within five, 42-37, on a Kastanek 3-pointer with 49 seconds left in the half, but La'Shay Taft hit a 3-ball and Coffey made a floater in the lane at the buzzer to send the Orange into the locker room with 47-37 lead.

Butler led Syracuse with nine first-half points, while Coffey and Sykes added eight each as the Orange shot 44.7 percent, including 6-of-14 from behind the arc. Doolittle was force for the Hawkeyes inside, scoring 17 points in the first 20 minutes as the home team shot 42.9 percent.

The Orange returns to action on Monday, Dec. 16 when it hosts Temple in a 7 p.m. tip-off at the Carrier Dome. Tickets can be purchased online, by calling 1-888-DOMETIX or at the Carrier Dome Box Office (gate B).