For the first half of Syracuse’s road matchup with Cincinnati on Tuesday, the score did not reflect the record of each team.

The same can’t be said for the second half.

The Bearcats hung with the Orange (19-3, 7-2 Big East), falling behind and battling back in the first half. But Syracuse left Cincinnati (8-14, 0-9) with a 72-48 victory, buoyed by a 10-0 run early in the second half that turned a 31-30 nail-biter into a 41-30 SU advantage. The win, Syracuse’s third straight, moves the Orange into a tie for third place in the conference standings. With every victory, Syracuse moves closer to the ultimate goal of ending its five-year NCAA Tournament drought.

“We had a big second half, which was big in the game,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We competed at a high level, showed a solid work ethic and really pushed the pace of the game.”

SU’s senior class has demonstrated game-changing ability in addition to its leadership throughout the season, a characteristic readily apparent Tuesday. Seniors Elashier Hall, Kayla Alexander and Carmen Tyson-Thomas served as the Orange’s three leading scorers against the Bearcats, with Hall and Alexander leading the way with 23 points each. Tyson-Thomas was next with nine, and no other Orange player had more than five.

It wasn’t just on the scoresheet where the Orange seniors made their presence felt. Alexander and Hall were the team’s two leading rebounders, with Alexander at nine and Hall adding eight. The seniors’ energy throughout the game was pivotal in the winning effort, Hillsman said.

“They played really good basketball,” Hillsman said of the seniors. “When you have that kind of effort from the leaders, it really gives us a chance.”

Hall’s 23-point effort moves her into the 1,000-point club after starting the game with 997. Hall joins Alexander and Tyson-Thomas as active 1,000-point career scorers. Alexander became SU’s all-time leading scorer in a loss to Villanova on Jan. 26.

“It’s unbelievable,” Hillsman said. “It’s a testament to her (Hall’s) work ethic.”

After holding a 31-27 halftime advantage, SU’s lead shrunk to a point when Cincinnati’s Alyesha Lovett nailed a 3-point shot just 25 seconds into the second half. The Orange embarked on its key 10-0 run on the next possession, when Hall missed a 3 but grabbed her own rebound and made a layup.

The run concluded with an Alexander jumper with 16:08 remaining, as Syracuse held the Bearcats without a bucket for nearly five minutes. The Bearcats’ Kayla Cook made a 3 with 14:26 left to make the score 41-35, but SU responded by scoring the next six points and led by double digits the rest of the way.

Despite Cincinnati’s struggles throughout the season and a 0-9 conference record, Hillsman was impressed by the way the Bearcats competed throughout the game. The Bearcats have lost four of their nine conference games by eight points or less, and possess more talent than their record may indicate, Hillsman said.

“You look at their record and you would think they’re bad, but they’re not really that bad,” Hillsman said. “They’ve got good players. In the first half, they played well and we played well. We just wore them down.”

For the game, the Orange shot 49 percent (25-for-51) from the field while holding Cincinnati to a 31.5 percent clip. Alexander went 8-for-12 with her usual selection of mostly inside attempts while hitting 7-of-12 at the line. Hall went 7-for-13 overall (2-of-3 from beyond the arc) and made 7-of-8 free throws.

“We took very good shots,” Hillsman said. “That was a key in the game, taking good shots. When you give yourself a chance by taking good shots and making the shots, you’ve got to give yourself credit. Give our kids a lot of credit tonight.”

Published on February 6, 2013 at 1:21 am

Contact Kevin: kmprisei@syr.edu