Women's Basketball Looks to Continue Solid Start with Game at Syracuse Sunday Afternoon
11/23/2013 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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ORONO, Maine -- Maine (3-0) continues its first road trip of the season when it travels to the Carrier Dome for the first time in Black Bear history to take on the Atlantic Coast Conference's new member school Syracuse (4-0) on Sunday afternoon at 1 PM.
The Black Bears are off to their best start since 1989 as they have opened the season with three-straight wins, including a most recent 66-50 victory in their first road game of the season over Long Island University-Brooklyn.
Maine, averaging 68.3 points per game, have opened the season hot from the floor with a 44.1% field goal mark and have gone 22-for-55 from three-point range (40.0%). The Black Bears have outrebounded their opponents in two of their first three games and are averaging 17.0 assists per game.
Individually, Ashleigh Roberts has scored in double-figures in each of Maine's first three games. Roberts, who had her 50th career double-figure scoring game of her career and also totaled her 850th career point last time out, leads Maine at 17.7 points per game to go along with 4.0 rebounds. Sophomore guard Lauren Bodine is chipping in 8.0 points and is shooting 61.5% (8-for-13) from three point range. Bodine hit five three pointers against LIU-Brooklyn, her fifth time hitting 4+ three point shots in a game. Sophomore Liz Wood is averaging 7.3 points per game and leads Maine in rebounds (8.0) and assists (3.7). The Black Bears have received great bench production led by freshman Sigi Koizar and sophomore Anna Heise who are each averaging 7.3 points.
Syracuse enters the weekend at 4-0 coming off a 113-42 win over Maryland Eastern Shore. The 113 points were the most scored by the Orange in history and the 71 point margin of victory was also tops in Syracuse history. Syracuse returns three starters and 11-letterwinners from last season's team which finished 24-8 (11-5 BIG EAST) and finished its season ranked 2nd in the nation with a loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Orange, in their first year as a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference return a pair of BIG EAST All-Freshmen in guards Brittney Sykes and Brianna Butler. Sykes does it all as she currently leads Syracuse in scoring, averaging 21.0 points per game, 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.8 steals while shooting 58.2-percent from the floor. B. Butler is dropping 13.0 points with 3.8 rebounds and has already attempted 35 three point shots. The veteran of the group is redshirt senior center Shakeya Leary who is averaging a double-double with 12.0 points and a team-high 12.8 rebounds. The Orange rank third in the ACC in scoring (89.8) and lead the league in free-throw shooting (81.7).
This will be the third meeting in history between Syracuse and Maine. The Black Bears won the first ever meeting 59-45 in the Michigan State tournament on Dec. 2, 1988. Syracuse took the last meeting last season when it defeated the Black Bears 68-44 at Alfond Arena. In that game, Ashleigh Roberts led Maine in scoring with 10 points and five rebounds.
This meeting will be Maine's first ever visit to the Carrier Dome. Maine is 6-18 against current ACC teams with the last win coming by a score of 80-78 over Clemson in the Championship of the Dead River Company Classic on Nov. 25, 2006.
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