It was a special night at the Carrier Dome. The Orange
women donned pink uniforms with white lettering and pink sneakers for the “play4kay”
foundation which honors the former
Standford coach Kay Yow who was lost to breast cancer.
It was also the first time the Syracuse women's basketball team faced off against the Virginia Tech Hokies since 2004, when they were Big East foes.
Syracuse
(16-6, 5-4 ACC) came into this game after a beating by #8 Maryland 89-64 at home on Sunday, and Virginia Tech ( 11-10, 1-7 ACC) had just snapped an eight game losing streak
by getting past Boston College in overtime.
The Orange made it look easy on this night, taking the Hokies 73-48. It was largely due to brilliant play by Brittney Sykes
who scored a career high 31 points.
First Half: Hokies get psyched by Sykes
Both teams started the game off with some sloppy play. But,
the Orange soon ran away with the game literally and figuratively.
"We wanted to ... get out in transition, up and down the floor, and get easy baskets," SU Coach Quentin Hillsman said after the game.
Point Guard Rachel Coffey kept feeding the ball
to Sykes. When Sykes had the ball on the run, she could not be stopped. She began the game with 12 points in the first seven minutes of play.
The Orange led at the half 43-22.
The Orange led at the half 43-22.
Sykes' 21 points in the first half were the most in a half by an SU player since Nicole Michaels scored 26 in 2009 against Binghamton.
While Hillsman was impressed with Sykes play on the offensive end he didn't love her entire game.
"I told her at halftime that she blew two (defensive) assignments, and after a timeout I told her I had to get her out of the game," he said.
Sykes said she didn't even know she had 21 points at the half.
"The only thing I was worried about was carrying that energy into the second half," she said.
Second half: More of the same
Syracuse started exactly where it left off in the first half - dominating. Briana Day used her 6'4" frame to her advantage. Anyone who dared to go inside the paint would be stopped by Day. She finished with 12 rebounds and a career-best six blocks.
Sykes didn't score her first point of the second half until the 14 minute mark. Hillsman took her out of the game with five minutes to go after she scored her 31st point.
"She is phenomenal, she is very very good obviously," Hillsman said. "Attacking the rim, getting in the paint, she was really hard tonight."
With the win, the Syracuse Women's basketball team surpassed a milestone, winning for the 100th time in the Carrier Dome.
Next Matchup
The Orange play at #2 Notre Dame on Sunday, Feb. 9th 2014 at 7pm.
Coach Hillman's Press Conference: https://www.youtube.
Players Press Conference: http://www.youtube.
Pictures:
No comments:
Post a Comment