BIG EAST Championship GuideTournament CentralHARTFORD, Conn. – The sixth-seeded Orange women's basketball team begins postseason play at the BIG EAST Championship on Saturday, March 8 with an 8 p.m. contest against 11th-seed South Florida. Syracuse is making its first BIG EAST appearance since the 2005 season and is coming of a school-record 22 NCAA regular-season victories. The team's 22-7 record is its best mark since finishing the 1987-88 with a 22-9 record and qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. The Orange finished tied for fifth in the conference with a 10-6 BIG EAST mark.
Fans are invited to join the Orange in Hartford, Conn. 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.
All of Syracuse games can be heard on suathletics.com, via the Orange All Access package, with Brian Higgins '04 providing the play-by-play. Additionally, WTLA1200/1440 AM and WJPZ 89.1 FM will provide a radio broadcast and BIG EAST Television will provide the telecast to the regional networks.
Saturday's game will be a rematch of the Orange's 67-60 victory at USF on Jan. 12. In that game, four student-athletes in double figures for the fifth time this season and junior guard Chandrea Jones led the way with 19 points. Freshman guard Erica Morrow finished with 15 points, while sophomore forward Nicole Michael posted 13 and Goodwin totaled 10. Both Michael and Goodwin tallied double-doubles by adding 15 and 12 rebounds, respectively.
Syracuse carried a 34-24 advantage into the second half, but nine straight by South Florida closed the gap at 15:58. The Orange reestablished a six point cushion (42-36) at 13:34 after a free throw by Michael. The Bulls used a three-pointer by junior guard Jazmine Sepulveda and a two-pointer by sophomore forward Porche Grant to pull with one (44-43) at 9:45.
The Orange responded with a basket by freshman guard Tasha Harris and a tray by Morrow, but the Bulls used a 7-0 run to take the lead, 50-49, at 6:01.
SU held a four-point advantage entering the final two minutes and a three point play by Morrow gave the Orange a 63-56 lead with 1:50 remaining. The Bulls sent Morrow to the line four more times the rest of the way and she converted all four to give the Orange the 67-60 win.
Since that match up the Orange has gone 8-5 with key victories at No. 23/24 DePaul, 69-66, on Jan. 29, against Georgetown, 68-67, on Feb. 26 and against No. 14/13 West Virginia, 73-51, on March 3.
In the 13 games since the two teams last met, Morrow led the team with 15.4 points per game, while Jones posted a second-best total of 14.1.
The Bulls (14-14, 4-11) have gone 5-9 since their first date with the Orange and clinched the 11th spot in the tournament with victories against Pittsburgh, 65-64, on March 1 and at Marquette, 61-56, on March 3.
Junior guard Shantia Grace leads the team with 18.3 points and 3.8 assists per outing. Junior guard Jazmine Sepulveda is second with 10.5 points, while junior center Jessica Lawson is third with 10.1 points per game.