The Syracuse women’s basketball team sprinted to a 55-30 halftime lead on 59 percent shooting, then held Harvard at bay to win a first-round WNIT game Thursday night before 173 spectators in Manley Field House.
Syracuse improved to 23-10 with the 87-68 cruise-control victory and will now face Richmond in a second-round game at 7 p.m. Monday in Manley. The Spiders (20-12) upset Delaware 67-49 Thursday night.
The Orange was led by two freshmen, as 6-foot-4 center Kayla Alexander used her height and length to score 22 points on low-post moves and Carmen Tyson-Thomas employed frenetic, all-over-the-court energy to compile 17 points and 13 rebounds. Together, they made 14 of 23 shots from the field and were a perfect 10-of-10 from the foul line.
Alexander credited the second 20-point effort of her budding career with being able to collect passes in the low post.
"They played behind me, so it was easier to pass it inside," she said. "I like it when they play behind. You get more touches."
Tyson-Thomas said her effort was sparked by having a good first half in rebounding.
"We were all crashing the boards really good in the first half," she said.
Syracuse never trailed in the game. After taking a 12-10 lead, the ‘Cuse started to gain separation on an 11-0 run fueled by three close-range shots by Alexander. The Orange essentially put the game away with a 9-0 blitz to take a 46-22 lead with 3 minutes, 12 seconds remaining in the first half. The teams then traded buckets until Tyson-Thomas swished a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to give SU a 25-point lead, 55-30.
For a team that has routinely had slow starts this season, it was the Orange’s best first half of the year. The 55-point production was only four off the program record for one half. But more impressively, Syracuse exhibited patience in its half-court offensive sets that was missing in its third-round loss to Connecticut in the Big East tournament.
Tyson-Thomas, a wing who plays bigger than her 5-foot-9 frame, said the effort was in part due to the team’s attempt to redeem itself for failing to get into the NCAA Tournament.
"We were really bummed that we didn’t make the tournament, so our mindset coming in here was we want to get a ring, we want to get the championship," she said. "We want to win. So that’s what we’re trying to do, go all the way."
Fourth-year head coach Quentin Hillsman said the team is not taking the second-tier WNIT lightly, noting that recent practices have proved the team is not ready to have its season end.
"We had tough, tough practices, we didn’t have soft practices. I had them ready to come in here and compete," Hillsman said. "I knew they would respond and I knew that they would play hard. These kids have a lot of pride and they understand that every game is important."
The effort was most evident in the rebounding line, as SU gathered 50 boards to only 26 for the Crimson. Syracuse also extended its 2-3 zone enough to rattle Harvard’s shooters, leading to an 8-for-34 efficiency from 3-point range by the visitors.
Harvard still saw four players score in double figures, led by Brogan Berry with 15, Victoria Lippert with 13, Christine Matera with 12 and Emma Markley with 10. But those four starters were only 17-of-47 from the field and 7-of-26 from 3-point range.
For Syracuse, Erica Morrow also found double figures by scoring 10 points, while Nicole Michael added eight points and nine rebounds in 22 minutes of play. Michael also showed better movement since injuring her right foot in the final regular-season game March 1.
Chris Wagner
cwagner@syracuse.com
| Coach Hillsman Harvard Post-game Press Conference |