Box Score
PRINCETON, N.J. – The Orange women's basketball team earned its seventh consecutive victory by fighting off Princeton in the final minutes for a 77-75 win. Free throws by junior guard Chandrea Jones and senior forward Fantasia Goodwin gave Syracuse the two point advantage with less than five seconds remaining.
Princeton senior forward Ali Prichard sunk a three pointer with 21 seconds left to tie the game at 75-75. After head coach Quentin Hillsman called a timeout, the Orange put the ball in the hands of Jones, who was fouled on her way to the hoop. Jones connected on the first, but missed the second. Goodwin grabbed the offensive board and was quickly fouled. She nailed her second attempt with two seconds remaining to clinch the victory.
Jones, who has scored 10 or more points in all but one game this season, registered a team-high 17 points and added nine rebounds. Goodwin posted her team-best fourth double-double with 16 points and 11 rebounds. The tandem exploded in the second half with Jones posting 13 and Goodwin registering 10.
The Orange (8-1) shot 45 percent (31-68) from the floor en route to the program's best start since the 1981-82 season. With the loss Princeton goes to 3-8, despite taking both Syracuse and No. 6 Rutgers to the limits in back-to-back outings.
SU took a two point advantage, 34-32, into the second half and increased its lead to 46-34 with a 12-2 run to open the period. Jones tallied six points during the 3:38 streak, including the first basket at 19:46. Sophomore forward Nicole Michael capped the run at 16:12 with a layup.
Princeton responded with a 10-2 run that was started with a free throw by junior guard Caitlin O'Neill at 12:34. She connected on a three at 10:41 to end the run and tie the game at 55-55.
Scores by senior forward Tracy Harbut, freshman guard Tasha Harris, Goodwin and Jones gave the Orange a 69-62 lead at 6:02.
The Tigers clawed back and pulled within three (75-72) with a layup by senior forward Meagan Cowher with 45 seconds left, setting up the dramatic finish.
Cowher and freshman guard Addie Micir were Princeton's top scorers with 18 points apiece. Two other Tigers registered double-figures – O'Heill registering 13 and freshman guard Shelbie Pool scoring 11.
Michael was another Orange in double-digits with 12 points. She was 5-for-8 from the field and connected on both of her free-throw tries. Freshmen guards Erica Morrow and Tasha Harris each had nine points – a career-high for Harris.
Senior center Vaida Sipaviciute tallied three blocks, surpassing the 200 career-mark. She now has 202 rejections and is only 16 shy of the second spot on SU's all-time list.
Sipaviciute added eight points and four boards, helping the Orange outrebound the Tigers, 46-36. Syracuse is undefeated this season when owning the glass.
SU posted 54 points in the paint, including 16 second-chance points. Princeton only had 18 points in the paint, but shot 41.4 percent (12-29) from behind the arc.
Princeton was 39.7 percent (15-63) from the floor and 86.7 (13-15) from the charity stripe. The Orange made 20.0 percent (2-10) of its three-point attempts and 61.9 percent (13-21) of its free throws.
The Orange returns to the Carrier Dome on Wednesday, Dec. 19 for a 7 p.m. battle against Maryland Eastern Shore.