Syracuse, N.Y-An aggressive defense powered the No. 20/22 Syracuse women’s basketball team (7-1) to a 70-25 win over North Carolina Central (2-8) at the Carrier Dome, Sunday afternoon. The 64th consecutive non-conference win extended the Orange’s winning streak this season to three, after the loss to No. 1 South Carolina on Nov. 28.
“Our defense was great,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We gave two 3s in the first four minutes in the game. We gave one 3 for the last 36 minutes. Obviously that’s what we needed to do defensively to keep three-pointers down and we did a good job with that.”
Cornelia Fondren’s transition layup after stealing the ball gave Syracuse its largest lead, 68-20 with 3:14 left in a game that was never close. The steal was one of 13 the Orange had in the game. The layup was good for two of the 29 points off the Eagles’ 30 turnovers.
Twenty-five points are the fewest North Carolina Central’s has scored in its ten games this season. The Eagles went 3-of-10 from behind the arc.
Sophomore center Briana Day had her fifth double-double this season. The 6'4" Day had 15 points on 4-of-6 shooting and 10 rebounds, both leading the team. She also had three blocks.
“Just working hard and getting help from my teammates,” Day said. “…Just go on and play for each other. That’s all it is.”
Alexis Peterson and Brianna Butler were the other two players scoring double digits for Syracuse. Peterson had 13 points and dished out three assists. Butler added 11 points.
Syracuse starts fast
Syracuse showed aggressiveness immediately, starting the game with a 12-0 run. Isabella Slim, Butler and Peterson each drained a three-pointer in that three-minute-four-second span.
“We really want to come out strong,” Peterson said. “It’s been ten days since we played. We have to finally get some energy, some effort, and get some points on the board. We knew we couldn’t start slow.”
The Orange led at the half, 30-12, with nine steals and having forced 16 turnovers by the Eagles.
Guard Maggie Morrison’s three pointer started another 15-0 run in the second half. In that run, Morrison had two 3-pointers and Fondren contributed four points and one steal. She had a chance to complete an and-one play when she made a transition layup while drawing the foul but missed the free throw.
While the Eagles' 6'0" center Racquel Davis grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds, the Eagles went 9-of-44 from the floor and none of the players scored in double figures. Former Nottingham High School star Nikki Works, who transferred to NCCU from Temple, tied Davis as high scorer for the Eagles with six.
SU shooting improves in second half
Despite the lead in the first half, the Orange went 9-of-36 from the floor, including 4-of-16 from behind the arc. The go-to three-point shooter Butler made one of her five three-point attempts. Back-up guard Diamond Henderson missed all nine of her field goal attempts.
Things changed in the second half. The Orange bounced back from 25-percent shooting and went 13-of-30 (43.3 percent) in the second half. The players shot 6-of-15 (40 percent) from three-point range. Butler went 2-of-4 from behind the arc.
“Really proud of our efforts,” Hillsman said. “Proud of our second half. Proud of our kids coming out and playing a solid even game defensively and offensively. I thought (in the) second half we picked it up.”
In the last game against Penn State, Butler shot 4-of-19 from behind the arc and she shot 3-of-9 Sunday. She said she was not concerned about the shooting and would continue to be aggressive.
Up next
Syracuse will seek to extend the winning streak to four against Canisius on Tuesday night. The game will start at 7 p.m. at the Carrier Dome.
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