SU at Hawkeyes in Big Ten/ACC Challenge

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GREENSBORO, N.C. - Syracuse will play at Iowa in the 2013 Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge, the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten announced on Tuesday. The Orange and Hawkeyes will meet at Carver-Hawkeye Arena on Thursday, Dec. 5.

Challenge games will be contested in a two-day format, beginning Wednesday, Dec. 4. Georgia Tech and Florida State will host games on the first day, while Notre Dame and Virginia Tech will be on the road. On Dec. 5, Duke, Maryland, North Carolina and Virginia will host Big Ten foes, and NC State, Boston College, Syracuse and Miami visit their inter-conference foes.

Head coach Quentin Hillsman's Orange begins its first season as an ACC member as it comes off a 24-8 campaign in 2012-13. SU was ranked No. 22 in the final polls after finishing third in the BIG EAST (11-5) and making its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2008.

"I am very excited about the matchup with Iowa," Hillsman said. "This is a game that strengthens our non-conference schedule and will serve as a great early test for our young team on the road in a great basketball environment."

Four of the Orange's 2013-14 non-conference games have been officially announced. In addition to the game against the Hawkeyes, SU will play Texas, Memphis and Texas A&M in the U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam on Nov. 28-30.

Iowa is coming off a 21-13 season in 2012-13, including an 8-8 mark in the Big Ten. An NCAA Tournament at-large selection, the ninth-seeded Hawkeyes defeated eight seed Miami in the opening round, 69-53, before losing to top-seeded Notre Dame in the second round, 74-57. They finished the season receiving votes in both major polls.

The Orange and Hawkeyes have played twice before, both Iowa wins. The most recent game was on Nov. 28, 1999 with Iowa winning, 76-73, in the Hawkeye Challenge in Iowa City, Iowa. The teams first met a year earlier on Dec. 5, 1998, a 70-64 Iowa win in the Carrier Classic at Manley Field House.

Syracuse is 2-3 against current Big Ten teams in Hillsman's seven seasons as head coach, the most recent of which was a 75-66 win vs. No. 6 Ohio State at the Carrier Dome on Dec. 11, 2010.

A year ago, ACC teams combined for a 7-5 mark against its Big Ten counterparts to win its fifth Challenge title. The ACC owns a 41-27 edge over the Big Ten in the Challenge. The two leagues each earned six wins in 2011 to mark the only tie in Challenge history.

The ACC and Big Ten conference offices determine the schedule each season. In addition, the official title of the Challenge rotates each year. The 2013 event will be referred to as the Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge and will continue to mirror the official title of the two conferences' Challenge agreement for men's basketball. This is the seventh year of the event which has been extended through 2016.

The ACC and the Big Ten have long been among the most dominant conferences on the women's basketball scene. Last season, the ACC was represented by six overall postseason squads, including five teams in the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship. The five teams in the tournament marked the 19^th consecutive season at least four ACC teams have been selected to the field. Overall, the ACC has made 14 Final Four appearances.

2013 Big Ten/ACC Women's Basketball Challenge game times, as well as television and broadband coverage, will be announced at a later date. For more information about The Challenge, including a complete schedule, visit theacc.com.

Syracuse University Athletics

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