Syracuse Runs Into Trouble in College Station
By Jack Nevins
The Syracuse women’s basketball team was defeated on the road Wednesday night, 57-45 to Texas A&M in the SEC/ACC Challenge.
SU started strong, and even looked promising out of the gate, scoring the first seven points, ending the first quarter up 15-10. This light at the end of the tunnel was short lived as the Aggies closed the gap in the second quarter, outscoring the Orange 14-11, but the ‘Cuse managed to still find a light and led 26-24 going into halftime.
Texas A&M came out of the locker room on fire, knocking down back-to-back jumpers and claiming its first lead of the night. They kept this fire power going, while expanding their lead to eight points, 45-37, to end the third quarter. The fourth quarter looked good for the Orange as Syracuse went on a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, but with a seven-point lead with a little over two minutes to play and a 10-0 run from the Aggies, Texas A&M secured the victory 57-45.
The Aggies held Syracuse to 27.4% (17-of-62) shooting from the field, and 3-of-17 from long range. TAMU made 13-of-26 field goals in the second half, including 9-of-15 in the third quarter, after making just 9-of-28 in the first half. Freshman guard Taliyah Parker and sophomore guard Janae Kent scored their career highs with 14 points each. Parker went 6-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from beyond the arc. She contributed on the defensive end with two steals. Kent went 5-of-9 on shooting from the field and 2-of-4 from downtown. The Texas A&M defense also found a way to hold star guard Sophie Burrows to a big donut, zero points in 36 minutes played.
K and K were the story of this game. Forward’s Kyra Wood and Kiera Scott led the charge for Syracuse. Wood tallied her second double-double of the season with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Wood’s double-double makes it the second straight game the Orange had a player have a points-rebounds double-double following Izabel Varejão’s 12 point, 11 rebound game against Yale. The freshman Kiera Scott continued her rising stock in her second-career start. She recorded a team-high 14 points and now leads all Syracuse freshmen for points scored this season, 64. SU has at least 40 rebounds in four games this year, as this loss moved them to 4-5 and tied the short series with the Aggies, 2-2.
Notre Dame travels to the Dome on Sunday December 8th for tip-off at noon. The Orange will look to get back to their winning ways against the Irish.
