The Orange prove its color-themed name to be superior.
Syracuse women’s basketball advanced to 2-0 on the season with an 80-48 home win over Cornell on Sunday afternoon. Both teams came in undefeated, with the Orange riding a 75-48 win over Sacred Heart and the Big Red fresh off a 106-37 blowout of Fredonia.
Syracuse won the opening tip, and Keira Scott got the Orange on the board with a three at the 8:48 mark. Sarah Rambus quickly made up for a missed shot with a block at 8:03, then added a second
one at 6:27. Uche Izoje, unlike her previous outing, was shooting an excellent clip from the field (albeit, the vast majority of her attempts were within five feet of the basket). She played a dominant style of bully ball in the paint, using her size to muscle defenders out of the way. The exclamation point of the first quarter came in the form of an Emely Rodriguez alley-oop from the three-point line to Izoje down low to make it 11-3 in Syracuse’s favor. Izoje had 10 points in the first quarter, and Syracuse led 21-10 after one.
The second quarter was defined by the Orange defense. Cornell committed eight turnovers by the 7:37 mark, when Angelica Velez came up with a steal and a transition score. Rambus got her third block on a Cornell three, then finished an and-one layup on the other end to put Syracuse up 18. Rodriguez knocked down a transition three off a Scott steal, and Scott racked up another steal later in the quarter. Cornell didn’t score until the 1:47 mark, and Syracuse outscored the Big Red 21-2 in the quarter, the lowest the Orange have ever held an opponent to in its history. Izoje capped the half with a precise tip-in off a Velez inbound pass with 2.9 seconds left, giving her 18 points on 9-of-11 shooting. Syracuse led 42-12 at the break.
Syracuse kept its starters in for much of the third despite a 51-13 lead, and with around three minutes left in the quarter, the Orange were outscoring Cornell 36-6 in the paint. Cornell was finally able to string some baskets together as the period wound down, but it made little difference as the Orange still took a 60-27 lead into the fourth.
Izoje scored the first points of the final quarter on a fastbreak layup and reached 20 points on the day. The lead hovered around 30 for the remainder of the game. The sophomore center finished with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Rodriguez added 13 points, 5 rebounds and 3 steals, and Rambus had an excellent defensive showing with 6 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks. Bench players like Destiny Robinson, Madison Howard and Elif Cayir also picked up their first buckets in an Orange uniform.
The Orange will return to the JMA Wireless Dome on November 11 at 6:00 p.m. EST to take on Siena. That game will stream on ACCNX.
