Orange & Mocs Meet in NCAA First Round

No. 6 Syracuse (22-9) vs. No. 11 Chattanooga (29-3)
Game Details	NCAA Tournament First Round Saturday, March 22 \| 1:30 p.m. ET \| Lexington, Ky. Memorial Coliseum (7,300) \| Tickets
Game Coverage	TV: ESPN2 Watch: ESPN3 Radio: ESPN 97.7/100.1 FM & 1200 AM \| Cuse.com Live Stats Twitter: @CuseWBB \| @cuse
Syracuse Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Game Notes
Chattanooga Links	Roster \| Schedule \| Stats \| Game Notes

'Cuse Tournament Central | NCAA Tournament Central
Bracket: Interactive | Printable

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LEXINGTON, Ky. - For the first time in program history, the Syracuse women's basketball team is heading to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons. The sixth-seeded Orange (22-9) earned an at-large bid and will play Southern Conference champion and No. 11 seed Chattanooga (29-3) on Saturday, March 22 at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Coliseum in Lexington, Ky.
• The winner of Saturday's game will play the winner of No. 3 seed Kentucky (24-8) and No. 14 seed Wright State (26-8) on Monday, March 24 at 6:30 p.m.
• Syracuse is making its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and third under eighth-year head coach Quentin Hillsman.

GAME COVERAGE
• All three games in Lexington will be televised on ESPN2 with Syracuse alum Marc Kestecher and Brooke Weisbrod on the call. They can also be watched on ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN App.
• All Syracuse games can be heard live on the Orange's flagship station, ESPN 97.7/100.7 FM, 1200 AM, and on Cuse.com with Brian Higgins '04 on the call. The games will also air on WJPZ 89.1 FM.
• A link to free live stats are avilable.
• As always, follow @CuseWBB on Twitter for live in-game updates.

BACK IN THE NCAAS
• The Orange is making second straight NCAA Tournament appearance, third in eight years under Quentin Hillsman and sixth overall. SU is looking for its first win, coming in with a 0-4 record (box scores p. 18).
• Last season, Syracuse received an No. 7 seed and went to Knoxville, Tenn. where it suffered a 61-56 loss in a tight game to 10th-seeded Creighton. Kayla Alexander scored 23 points and grabbed eight boards in her final game at SU as the team finished the year 24-8 overall.
• In its first NCAA Tournament appearance under Hillsman in 2008, SU received an at-large bid and a No. 7 seed, losing to 10th-seeded Hartford, 59-55, in the first round of the Oklahoma City Region in Baton Rouge, La., giving it a final record of 22-9. Erica Morrow led SU with 17 points in the game.
• In 2002, Syracuse was an at-large and No. 10 seed, losing to seventh-seeded Drake, 87-69, in the first round of the East Region in Waco, Texas. SU finished 18-13.
• SU made the 40-team field in 1988 as an at-large and No. 6 seed in the Mideast Region, getting a first-round bye before losing to third-seed Ohio State, 116-75, in Columbus, Ohio. The Orange concluded the season 22-9.
• Syracuse's NCAA debut came in 1985 when it received the BIG EAST's automatic berth after winning the conference championship. SU was a No. 8 seed in the East Region in the 32-team field and lost to top-seed and eventual national champion Old Dominion, 88-63, in Norfolk, Va.

ORANGE STRONG IN '13-14
• An aggressive non-conference schedule, paired with a challenging ACC slate has helped the Orange achieve a No. 26 ranking in the latest official NCAA RPI ratings, released on March 10.
• Syracuse went 11-2 in its non-conference schedule, the seventh time in program history the Orange was 11-2 or better after 13 games.
• The Orange has won four wins over RPI top 25 teams, three of which were either on the road or a neutral site, and a total of nine wins against the RPI top 100. All nine of its losses have come to teams that are No. 39 or better in the RPI.

AN ORANGE WIN WOULD...
• ...be the program's first NCAA Tournament victory in six appearances.
• ..send SU to the NCAA second round where it will face the winner of Kentucky and Wright State on Monday.
• ...be its 23rd of the season, fifth-most in program history.
• ...give SU 23+ wins in four of the last five seasons.

#ORANGENATION SUCCESS
• Syracuse is one of only six schools to have both its men's and women's basketball teams in the NCAA Tournament and their football teams win a bowl game this year (Louisville, Michigan State, Nebraska, North Carolina and Oklahoma).
• Syracuse and Louisville are the only two schools to accomplish that feat in each of the last two years.
• While the Orange women are a six seed, the men are a three, giving SU the fifth-best average seeding between its two programs in this year's tournaments.

SERIES HISTORY
• SU and Chattanooga have never played each other in women's basketball. In fact, the Orange has never played any of the current Southern Conference schools.
• Syracuse is 0-2 all-time against Kentucky. The first meeting was a 88-63 win for the No. 11 Wildcats in the AIAW Tournament on March 18, 1981 at Memorial Coliseum. The most recent was a 83-63 UK win on Dec. 21, 1995 in Cincinnati.
• SU has never played Wright State.

SCOUTING CHATTANOOGA
• Chattanooga comes into the tournament 29-3 on the season and winners of 25 in a row, dating back to back-to-back losses in Hawaii on Nov. 29-30 against the Minnesota (63-62) and host Hawaii (60-55). It's only other loss was at Tennessee on Nov. 14, 80-56.
• The Mocs earned the SoCon's automatic bid by beating Davidson, 71-45, in the conference championship.
• Taylor Hall is the key to the Mocs' offense as the 6-1 senior forward leads the team in scoring (14.9 ppg), rebounding (8.6 rpg) and assists (4.4 apg). The SoCon Player of the Year is shooting 42.3 percent overall and 33.8 percent from behind the arc (25-74).
• Ashlen Dewart, a 6-3 senior forward, is also averaging in double figures at 10.1 ppg to go with 5.1 rebounds.
• The Mocs are a tough defensive team, allowing the 15th-fewest points per game in the country (56.2) to go with the 17th-best scoring margin (+14.1).
• Chattanooga plays disciplined basketball, turning it over just 12.8 times per game and committing the ninth-fewest fouls in the NCAA (14.8 per game).
• Head Coach Jim Foster is now the only coach in NCAA history to take four schools to the tournament: Saint Joseph's (6), Vanderbilt (10) and Ohio State (10).

PEAKING AT THE RIGHT TIME
• Syracuse ended regular season play on a roll, winning four in a row. The Orange has currently won five of its last six. SU has outscored its opponents by an average of 19.2 points in the five wins over the last six games.
• SU's defense was suffocating, forcing an average of 18.8 turnovers and recording 10.5 steals in those final four regular season games, while holding its opponents to 42.1 percent shooting and 46.3 points per game.

BRINGING THE PRESSURE
• With an aggressive fullcourt press and trapping 2-3 zone defense, the Orange boasts the best turnover margin in the ACC (14th nationally) at +5.3 and has produced an average of 21.1 points per game this season off its opponents' 19.4 turnovers per game.
• Syracuse scored a season-high 53 points off 31 turnovers in its 113-42 win vs. Maryland Eastern Shore. SU totaled 18 steals by nine different players.

TAKING CARE OF THE BALL
• SU features some of the top ball-handling play-makers in the ACC. The Orange has had its three lowest turnover totals in its last six games when it has averaged just 9.5.
• Point guard Rachel Coffey has the ACC's best assist-to-turnover ratio in conference play at 3.0 (63-21) and overall at 2.2 (124-56).
• Brianna Butler has the second-best ratio on the team at 1.8 (77-44), followed by Alexis Peterson's 1.7 (54-31).
• SU surrenders just 14.0 ppg off its turnovers, resulting in a +7.1 margin in points per game off turnovers.

CRASHING THE GLASS
• SU is second in the ACC in offensive rebounds per game at 16.6, grabbing 40 percent of he opportunities.
• The Orange has turned the offensive boards into 13.6 second-chance points per game.
• Last season, SU led the BIG EAST in offensive rebounds (17.6), ranked second in total rebounds per game (44.0), and was fourth in rebounding margin (+5.5).

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