Syracuse women’s basketball (9-10, 2-7 ACC) hits the road on Thursday to face Miami (11-7, 4-4 ACC). With a win, the Orange would put together back-to-back wins in the conference for the first time under acting head coach Vonn Read.
SU is coming off of an 80-72 win Sunday at the dome that saw all five starters tallying double digits in the point column. After the game, Coach Read said, “We had a very balanced scoring effort and that’s what I was pleased about. We had five players in double figures and that’s what we were doing when we were winning games.”
The matchup was SU’s first time with five double-digit scorers in ACC play this season and first since December 18th against UMBC. It was just the fourth time the Orange have accomplished this feat this season, all of which resulted in wins.
Guard Naje Murray made it clear after the win against Pittsburgh that she needs to be that consistent fifth double-digit scorer for this team. Murray said “Every game I haven’t gotten my double digits we haven’t won. That’s not even about scoring, it’s just about what we need to win.”
However, it will be a challenge for Syracuse to have five double-digit scorers on Thursday night in Miami. The Hurricanes have allowed less than 58 points per game so far this season, ranking them sixth in the ACC. However, they only average just above 61 points per game, ranking second to last in the ACC. This will give the bottom-ranked Syracuse defense an opportunity to get back on track.
Another huge key for success for Syracuse in their matchup down south will be shutting down sharpshooter Kelsey Marshall. The fifth-year senior is the Hurricanes leading scorer with 14 points per game, but her success this season has come from downtown. Marshall is shooting 33% from beyond the three-point line and has knocked down 46 triples this season, putting her at third in the ACC this season.
Since joining the ACC, the Orange is 6-4 against the Hurricanes and 3-2 in Miami. SU has won the last two matchups but has never had a three-game winning streak against Miami. They’ll look to change that on Thursday night with a tip set for 7:00. Coverage on WAER will begin at 6:30 with the countdown to tipoff.