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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Behind a career-high 25 points by freshman guard Erica Morrow and 22 points by junior guard Chandrea Jones the RV/RV Orange women's basketball team finished the regular season with a 73-51 victory against No. 14/13 West Virginia on Monday night inside the Carrier Dome in front of 1,308 fans. SU will be the sixth seed in the BIG EAST Tournament, its highest conference finish since the 2001-02 season when it also finished six.
The Orange's 22 NCAA regular-season victories are the most in school history and the team's 13 home victories is the highest total since going 13-1 during the 1987-88 season.
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| Erica Morrow totaled a career-high 25 points behind 5-of-11 shooting from behind the three-point line |
Morrow used 5-of-11 shooting from three-point range to tally her fourth game with more than 20 points and her 20
th game in double-figures. She finished with six rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Jones was 5-of-13 from the floor and converted on a career-best 12-of-12 free throws for her fifth game above the 20-point mark and her team-best 25th game in double-digits. She added a game-high nine rebounds, three assists and three steals to her stat line.
The Orange shot 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor, 50.0 percent (8-16) from behind the line and 86.2 percent (25-29) from the charity stripe.
As a defensive unit, SU forced 25 turnovers and limited WVU to only 31.6 percent (18-57) from the field. The Mountaineers finished with a 33.3 percent (8-24) mark from three-point range and 58.3 percentage (7-12) from the freebee line.
For the 22 time this season, the Orange outrebounded its opponent (41-37) and remains undefeated when accomplishing the feat.
The defense held the Mountaineers to 11.1 percent (2-18) shooting from the floor during the first 10:57 allowing the Orange to jump out to a 20-4 lead. Freshman guard Tasha Harris started things off with a three-pointer only 19:23 into the contest and after a lay-up by senior center Vaida Sipaviciute and six straight by Jones, Harris nailed another three at 10:45.
Morrow kept the Orange hot from deep by draining two in a row to give SU the 16 point advantage at 9:03.
West Virginia was only able to string five straight points from 5:44 to 4:21 to pull with 13 after a three-pointer by senior forward Meg Bulger. Senior forward Fantasia Goodwin increased SU's lead to 15 (30-15) by converting on a three-point play with 55 seconds remaining, but a trey by WVU senior guard Laquita Owens sent the game into the break at 31-18.
The Mountaineers 18 points are the lowest total by a Syracuse BIG EAST opponent since the Orange limited Seton Hall to 18 on Feb. 3, 2007.
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| Chandrea Jones posted 22 points and has eclipsed the 20-point mark a team-best five times. |
The Orange shot 36.0 percent (9-25) from the floor, 50.0 percent (5-10) from three-point range and 88.9 percent (8-9) from the line in the first. Defensively, SU held its opponent to only 19.2 percent (5-26) shooting, while forcing the Mountaineers to turn the ball over 12 times. Sipaviciute led Syracuse with three of the teams four blocks during the opening period.
The second half started with a run-and-gun pace with both teams combining for 33 points during the first 7:11 of play. Two straight three-pointers by WVU closed the 18 halftime deficit to eight (45-37) at the 12:49 mark, but three free throws and a fast-break lay-in by Jones put the Orange up 13 (50-37) at 11:55.
A lights-out three by Morrow at 4:38 put the Orange up 65-43, which was part of a 27-11 run that gave the Orange its largest lead of the game of 24 points (72-48) with 1:56 remaining.
West Virginia was led by Owen's 12 points and eight rebounds and Bulger's 11 points.
Prior to the game, Syracuse celebrated the hard work and contributions of Goodwin, Sipiviciute, Tracy Harbut, Mary Joe Riley and Sara Antolick.
The Orange heads to the BIG EAST Championship for the first time since the 2003-04 season. Competition begins on Saturday, Mar. 8 at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn. The Orange will either play Villanova or South Florida on Saturday at 8 p.m.
A limited number of full-session tickets for the BIG EAST Championship are now on sale. Tickets may be purchased at the Carrier Dome Box Office or by calling the Box Office at 1-888-DOMETIX. Package tickets for admission to all 11 games of the championship are priced at $105 each.