With thousands of energetic Central New York elementary, middle and high school students in attendance, Syracuse women's basketball took down the UAlbany Great Danes 87-64. The official attendance of the game totaled 7,311, the biggest turnout for a home game this season.
With this win, the Orange remain undefeated in the JMA Wireless Dome and are one win away from matching their win total from last season. The Orange went 11-18 last year and are 10-2 so far this season.
Syracuse has had issues with slow starts this season, letting less talented teams keep it close for the first half of the game. Almost every time, though, the Orange explode in the second half and run away with the game. That’s exactly what happened in the Dome against UAlbany.
UAlbany’s ball movement made them a difficult team for Syracuse to defend. By moving the ball so quickly, UAlbany was able to get lots of good looks and open shots, hitting four threes in the first half, none of which were heavily contested.
Syracuse went into the half down two. The only players with over 10 points were Dyaisha Fair and Teisha Hyman. A result of their pass-heavy play, UAlbany’s scoring was spread out at the half, with almost every player that saw the court in the scoring column.
For ‘Cuse, Hyman wouldn’t end up scoring much more, but Dyaisha Fair came out of halftime energized and eager to score. After a layup from Fair a third of the way through the third quarter, the Orange would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the game.
Syracuse relied more on their starters today than they usually do, but as she has been doing all season, Asia Strong gave her team quality minutes off the bench. Her 18 points and six rebounds earned her the team’s hard hat, given to the player who showed the most toughness and grit in a win. Strong is the first player to earn the hard hat twice this season.
“Her eyes were different. The dominance from her eyes said that she was ready,” Head Coach Felisha Legette-Jack said of Strong’s performance today. “She’s no nonsense now. She realized that she needs to be focused because we need her giving her best effort on the court.”
Georgia Woolley also had a good showing today, finishing with 12 points and four steals in 30 minutes played. Woolley battled the flu earlier this season, which kept her sidelined from games and practices.
“It feels good just getting my groove back and trusting my teammates, just taking the shots I’m supposed to take,” Woolley said.
After playing this game on one full day of rest, the Orange have over a week until they are back in action. Syracuse will travel to Louisville on December 29 for their first ACC road game of the season. Tipoff is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.