Women's Basketball

No. 20 Syracuse women’s basketball crushes Coppin State, 76-30

Daily Orange File Photo

Syracuse started the game on a 26-0 run and never looked back.

The 25th and 26th consecutive points to start the game sent more than 3,000 school children into elation. Brittney Sykes grabbed her fourth first-quarter rebound, dribbled up court and pulled up from the top of the key. She drained the jumper to cap off Syracuse’s opening run, which doubled as the start to its third-straight victory and most dominant stretch of basketball this season.

No. 20 Syracuse (7-3) crushed Coppin State (0-8), 76-30, on Wednesday in the Carrier Dome on “School Day,” which brought the largest crowd of the season and third-largest in program history even with the 11 a.m. tip. The Orange got out to a 26-0 lead and 43-7 halftime advantage. By the end of three quarters, it led 61-12 in the home-court romp.

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“That was the most important thing for us,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “I didn’t want to come out playing a flat game … I thought the first half we were very good. Overall, just a very clean basketball game.”

Peterson and Sykes created an insurmountable one-two punch early in the game. The two played keep away on multiple positions. Either would collect a loose ball or grab a steal, push the ball up court and dazzle in a two-on-one break. Peterson once split two defenders then sidestepped another for an easy layup. The senior point guard and Atlantic Coast Conference’s leading scorer led all players with 16 points and nine assists.

In the first half, Peterson crossed up her defender and two dribbles later had an open reverse layup under the basket. Later, Sykes called for a screen right but dribbled left toward near the baseline and laid her ninth and 10th points off the glass with her left hand.



“It kind of rubs off on you,” said Sykes, who had 12 points. “We know we’re going to hear a lot of screams, so let’s give them something to scream about.”

Briana Day was a force down low, fetching rebounds on both ends of the floor. She scored nine points, many of which came in the first half on put backs or rolls off high screens.

In the first quarter, SU’s center skied for an offensive rebound off a long 3. She held on tight to the ball, chinning it by her chest when an Eagles double team came. A second later, she found Petterson spotted up at the top of the arc. Day threw her a pass and she drained the triple to make it 18-0.

Coming off a season-high 22-point outburst, Day scored only nine. But she totaled season highs in boards (14), blocks (three) and steals (three).

Hillsman went to his bench earlier and more often than he has in any game this season. Desiree Elmore, Davida Dale, Abby Grant and Jade Phillips all got minutes. Thirteen players saw the court, including sophomore guard Brandi Fowler, who made her first career appearance.

Coppin State went 0-10 from 3, while SU was 7-for-21 in the first half. The Orange shot 44.4 percent from the field in the opening half to CSU’s 9.7 percent mark. Overall, SU racked up 30 points off turnovers, tallied a season-high 12 blocks and won the fast break game, 27-6. It reached its largest lead in the third, a 50-point advantage.

Coppin State’s first scoring chance didn’t come until almost nine minutes in, signaling a rout decided from the opening minutes.





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