Syracuse Goes Wire-to-Wire to Defeat Jacksonville, 65-49

Story and photos by Ellen Burr
 

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – It took two minutes for Syracuse to put points on the board, but after a 3-pointer by junior Isabella Slim, the Syracuse Orange women took the lead and never looked back, beating the Jacksonville University Dolphins 65-49 at the Carrier Dome Monday night..

Coming off a 61-54 loss to Arizona State on Dec. 12, the Orange (7-3) readily bounced back  against JU (6-6), scoring 21 points the first quarter and leading 38-22 at the half.

Senior guard Brianna Butler led the Orange in scoring for the game with 16 points.

"Our last game against Arizona State didn't go how we wanted it to," Butler said. "We wanted to come into this game against Jacksonville and make improvements and play our game."

Orange starts hot

The Orange looked strong in the first half, easily outscoring the Dolphins 21-11 in the first quarter and 17-11 in the second.

Syracuse was deadly from the three-point line in the first 20 minutes of the game, shooting 8-for-14 from the perimeter, making up the bulk of the Orange’s points in the first half. Butler was responsible for three of those 3-pointers, leading SU with nine points going into the break.

Syracuse clearly outshone Jacksonville in nearly all aspects of the game in the first half, except for rebounding. Jacksonville managed to out-rebound Syracuse, 29-26. Almost half of the Dolphins' scoring in the first two quarters was second chance points.

Syracuse fends off third quarter Dolphins' run

The Orange started the second half with an easy layup by Briana Day. But then Jacksonville proceeded to go on am 9-4 run cutting SU’s 18-point lead to 11, midway through the third quarter.

Syracuse once again took control of the game late in the third. Layups by Alexis Peterson and Briana Day, and another three by Butler made the score 52-35 going into the final quarter.

SU held on through the fourth quarter, with Jacksonville outscoring the Orange in by one point in the final 10 minutes of the game.

After their win over the Dolphins, the Orange women ran to the sideline to “dab” for a quick group picture, smiles on all of their faces.

"Obviously coming into this game we just wanted to win the game and have a good Christmas," Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. "Overall I'm just really happy with our effort, with our team, and with our ability to rebound from a loss. Our players played with a lot of energy, a lot of heart tonight."

Double-double for Brittney Sykes

Redshirt junior guard Brittney Sykes finished off the night with 11 points and 10 rebounds, the first double-double of the season for the Orange.

It was also the first double-double for the guard since March 22, 2014 –the day Sykes tore her ACL in an NCAA tournament game against Chattanooga. That knee injury kept Sykes on the Orange bench for the entirety of the following season.

"I know when Coach sent me out and I looked at the scoreboard and I realized I had nine rebounds I made sure I told the coaches I wanted to get in just one more time so I could get one more rebound, Sykes said. "Obviously coming back from an injury I want to make sure that I'm staying healthy, that I'm still crashing the boards. My knees are not an excuse for me not crashing and doing other things for my teammates."

Game Notes

This was the second-ever meeting between Syracuse and Jacksonville. The two programs faced off for the first time last season, when the Orange defeated the Dolphins 77-61 in Jacksonville, Fla.

None of the Jacksonville players scored in double digits Monday night Keanua Williams led the Dolphins with nine points.

Jacksonville had 48 rebounds in the game, over Syracuse’s 45.

After hitting 8 of 14 three-point shots in the first half, Syracuse was just 1-13 in the second half.

Up Next

Syracuse takes a weeklong break before hosting the New Year’s Celebration tournament at the Carrier Dome. The Orange takes on Drexel in the first round, next Tuesday, Dec. 29. That game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m.

Jacksonville is away again at No. 11/9 Florida State University next Monday, Dec. 28 at 7:00 p.m.


Photos - the view from the seats. Click to enlarge and start slide show.