Orange Women Cruise past Coppin State

Story by Michelle Fenelon

Photos by Ashley Moore

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The 20^th-ranked Syracuse women’s basketball team displayed a dominant performance in a 76-30, victory over Coppin State at the Carrier Dome on Wednesday.

"I'm very happy with our team's effort, the way we came out” coach Quentin Hillsman said. "I thought we came out pretty strong. And that was the most important thing for us is in this game.  I didn’t want to come out and play a flat game and come out and be stagnant.”

Alexis Peterson once again led the offensive attack with a game-high 16 points. Coppin state’s Tiara Goode led the way for the Eagles with 15.

School Day

Syracuse hosted its first School Day and more than 3,000 students from elementary schools in Central New York came to the Dome to cheer on the Orange. 3,932 total people attended the game. ‪– the third-largest crowd in the Dome for the women's game ever.

“It was just really special, you get to see the kids there full of energy and it kind of rubs off on you,” Brittney Sykes said. “You kind of forget that it’s an 11 a.m. game. And just think OK, well, we know we’re going to hear a lot of screaming so let’s give them something to scream about.”

On the Run

The Orange (7-3) opened the game with a 26-0 run, holding Coppin State (0-8) scoreless until Mia Crooms scored the Eagles’ first basket 9:52 minutes in. Syracuse continued its strong play in the second and third quarters, limiting the Eagles to just five points in each.

Coppin State struggled to find the bottom of the net until the fourth quarter. The Eagles put together a 6-0 run and outscored Syracuse 18-15 in the final 10 minutes.

Dominant Defense

The Orange women limited Coppin state to just seven points in the first half. It was the fewest points Syracuse allowed in a half since the team held Delaware State to just three second-half points in 2010.

The Orange scored 30 points off 28 forced turnovers.

3-point shooting

Just days after setting an all-time record for Coppin State, the Eagles once again received a strong shooting performance from Goode. 12 of Goode’s 15 points came from four 3-pointers in the final quarter.

Abby Grant shot 3-for-5 for Syracuse, all of which came from behind the arc. As a team, Syracuse hit eleven 3-pointers, shooting 46.7-percent.

“When you’re expected to shoot a lot you kind have to have a short-term memory loss so I wasn’t really focused on I haven’t hit a shot in however many games,” Grant said. “But my teammates really set me up. They found me, set screens so I owe it all to them.”

Looking Ahead

Coppin State travels to No.14 Miami for a two-day Holiday Tournament on Dec. 19th in Coral Gables. The Orange hosts Niagara at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Carrier Dome.