After a resounding victory against Coppin State Thursday night, the Orange improved to 7-2 on the season and 6-0 at home. Dyaisha Fair recorded a season high 27 points in the win.
The Orange got off to a slow start, but Dyaisha Fair, one of the main leaders on this squad, put up 12 points before the first quarter had even finished. The rest of the team followed suit on both ends of the court.
Syracuse will face Wagner on a pretty short turnaround Sunday afternoon. Wagner comes into the matchup 4-4 on the season and 2-3 on the road. Syracuse will be Wagner’s first Power 5 opponent of the 2022-23 season.
Wagner, like Syracuse, utilizes their bench very well. Nine of Wagner’s 13 total players have averaged double digit minutes so far this season. For Syracuse, eight of their 14 total players have done so.
Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack has been able to get quality minutes out of several bench players so far this year. Most recently, it was Asia Strong that provided quality minutes off the bench. In 20 minutes, Strong put up 16 points, many of which came through physical play in the paint.
Strong has been a key bench contributor all season. Recently, however, Cheyenne McEvans has started to provide the Orange with quality minutes off the bench, even if it doesn’t necessarily reflect in the box score.
While Wagner utilizes their bench extremely well, the bulk of its scoring comes from two players. Junior guard Alex Cowan is averaging 12.9 points per game so far this season, along with 1.9 steals. She leads the team in both categories but, interestingly, manages all of that in just 29.3 minutes on average. That’s third on the team.
Cowan is an undersized guard who knows how to score, much like Dyaisha Fair. Containing her will make it much more challenging to this Wagner squad to get around an Orange defense that’s been continuously improving from one game to the next.
Additionally, senior forward Kem Nwabudu and senior guard Zhaneia Thybulle record the most and second most minutes on average, respectively. Both of them lead the team in at least one major stat category: rebounds and blocks for Nwabudu and assists for Thybulle.
The big three of Cowan, Nwabudu and Thybulle will likely be the center of everything Wagner does. If the Orange can shut at least one or two of them down and continue to be the good scoring team they’ve been so far, the Orange have a great chance at keeping their home record perfect.
Tipoff is set for 2:00 p.m. in the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday. The game will be aired on ACC Network Extra.