Orange Women Win From the Bench

Story by Lena Pringle
Photo by Brian Armstrong

Syracuse, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orange women got 50 points off the bench as they defeated the Coppin State Eagles 88-56 Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome.

The No. 19/25 Orange led 37-23 at the half, then piled up another 51 points in the second half, running away from the Eagles.

"I think that speaks volumes when we play like that and get this type of bench performance. I think we will be a hard team to beat," junior guard Alexis Peterson  said. 

First Half 

The Orange (6-2) took the lead over Coppin State early in the first quarter with a 6-0 run with under three minutes left. Maggie Morrison and Taylor Ford came off of the bench to contributing 12 of the 20 points for that quarter.

In the second quarter, Coppin State's Keena Samuels got a technical foul allowing the Orange two free throws and the ball, pushing the Orange to a 25-12 lead.

Second Half Hustle 

Up by 14, Syracuse was not about to just sit on the lead. They put up 25 points in the third quarter to lead 62-46, then another 26 in the final period.

“I thought our players played an amazing second half," Syracuse head coach Hillsman said. "One of the better second halves that I’ve been a part of. It was fun to watch. It was fun to coach the second half because everything that we did worked. That was our game tonight we pushed the tempo."

Ford shines

Ford, Syracuse's senior forward, had a collegiate high of 21 points to lead the barrage off the bench.

“Got to give Taylor Ford a tremendous amount of credit," Hillsman said. "She played for one of my best friends and he wanted to make sure that I took care of her and all I try to do is get her to play as hard as she can play. It was tough the last couple of games because I couldn’t watch her underachieve, I couldn’t watch it. "

Ford hadn't been playing the best these past few games but her performance today showed she had something to prove. 

"The past couple of games I was playing really bad. I kinda felt bad because I wasn’t playing good. I let my team down, "Ford said. "So this game I was really focused on running the floor as hard as I could and playing hard every moment to help them out. I think I did a really good job today.” 

 

Freshman forward Julia Chandler had a career high of 11 points this game with 3 three-pointers off the bench. 

Junior guard Alexis Peterson had 15 points and five assists for the Orange and senior guard Brianna Butler chipped in 11.

The high scorers for Coppin State were senior center Omaah Tayong with 14 points and senior forward Janelle Lane with 13.  

Looking Head 

The Orange women play this Saturday, December 12 at 1 p.m. against the No. 24/24 Arizona State Sun Devils at the Carrier Dome.