BU women fall to Syracuse in return to Dome

12/15/2012 (Updated 12/16/2012 11:08:34 PM)

Syracuse, N.Y. Syracuse moved to 10-1 on the season with a 68-45 home victory over Binghamton (1-10) at the Carrier Dome Saturday afternoon. The Orange used a balanced scoring attack as they had four players in double figures, led by Elashier Halls 14 points. The Bearcats were paced by sophomore forward Sherae Swinsons 10 points off the bench.

The Orange used a 15-0 run bridging the end of the first half and the start of the second half to propel them to victory. SUs trapping 2-2-1 press caused problems for the visiting Bearcats as they were turned over 19 times. Syracuse knocked down 10 three pointers on the afternoon and used their length and size to create second chance opportunities. At the end of the final buzzer, BU was outrebounded 50-39.

Overall I thought we competed extremely hard for 48 minutes, head coach Nicole Scholl said. Syracuse is a very deep and talented team, so to challenge them and make things difficult for them was a positive sign. We played very well in spurts, but had a few offensive dry spells that hurt us.

The first half started off strong for both squads, as both teams traded three point buckets after the opening tip. Senior guard Mallory Lawes drilled a corner three off the feed from Jasbriell Swain to net BUs first field goal, but the host Orange responded with a 10-3 run that featured a pair of three point shots to take the early 13-6 advantage.

Minutes later, it was Swinson who netted back-to-back mid range jumpers to bring the guests to within four, 16-12, with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first. At the 5:30 mark, junior Stephanie Jensen provided a spark off the bench as well, banking home an NBA range three to pull within three at 20-17.

SU used their size and speed as an advantage to end out the first half as they went on a 10-0 run heading into halftime. The Orange had 12 points in the paint and seven second chance points to take the 13-point lead. BU managed to frustrate the high scoring offense of SU to just 30 percent from the field in the opening half, but shot just 21 percent themselves after 20 minutes of play.

Binghamtons defense was very strong against a high potent Orange offense, holding them to just 68 points (second lowest total of season). Offensively, BU shot just 28.6 percent for the game, but had contributions from nine players who tallied at least one field goal for the game.

Freshman Morgan Murphy had a strong game in her fourth start of the season, scoring seven points and collecting a career-high 10 boards. Swain also filled up the stat line for BU with five points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three steals.

Binghamton returns to action in two weeks as they gear up for the Lehigh Christmas City Classic. The Bearcats play Lehigh first on the 29th and wrap up with Farleigh Dickinson the following afternoon.

COURTESY: BU ATHLETICS