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Defense Picks Up The Slack

By Edward McFarland

Syracuse, NY – #18 Syracuse Women’s basketball team (22-6, 13-3 ACC) has finished the regular season on a nine game winning streak, as their focus is now set on the ACC Tournament. As the post-season approaches, the million dollar question is: What makes the Lady Orange a threat to winning the ACC tourney?

BIG QUESTION

Is it their smothering full court press that forces teams into an abundance of turnovers, or is it the senior guard Brianna Butler who can hit the three-ball from anywhere on the court?

“Our pressure is getting us a lot of points off turnovers,” Coach Quentin Hillsman said. “And you get your shooters making shots you’re going to be successful so I think it has to do with both.”

The Lady Orange lead the nation with 25 forced turnovers a game, and have averaged 26 forced turnovers during their nine game winning streak.

Though Butler’s shooting helps spread the floor and provides her teammates with opportunities to score, Butler believes the bread-n-butter for the team is their willingness to play defense.

“Our identity really is our defense,” Butler says. “We’re probably the only team in the entire country that presses the entire game.”

SCORING ISN’T ENOUGH

And even when teams do play a well-rounded game, it is not enough to overcome the Orange’s chokehold defense.

The Lady Seminoles head coach Sue Semrau said this after losing to Syracuse 83-73: “We had more field goals, we out rebounded them, we were 52-25 in the paint, but we just turned the ball over too much.”

That game Florida State had 28 turnovers that resulted into 21 points for the Lady Orange.

STATS CAN BE DECEIVING But, forcing 28 turnovers does not always mean the Lady Orange will coast to victory. On two occasions the Lady Orange have lost after forcing 28 turnovers.

Those loses came to Arizona State and Louisville. However, the Lady Orange field goal percentage remains consistent when they lose. In the six games the Lady Orange have lost they had a lower shooting percentage than their opponents. But, this stat can be deceiving because the Lady Orange have still found ways to win games when they shoot a lower field goal percentage than their opponents.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS

The Lady Orange start tournament play tonight in the quarterfinals agaisnt NC State. However, no matter who they compete against, their chances of winning the ACC tournament rest on their defense. Their defense picks up the slack when they shoot poorly from the field, and when Brianna Butler and her teammates are making shots, their forced turnovers get them more shots.

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Orange Men Stop Moccasins in Exhibition Finale

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Florida Southern Moccasins traveled up north to face the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team in the Orange’s second and final exhibition game Sunday at the Carrier Dome. The Moccasins won the 2015 NCAA Division II championship, but that was soon forgotten as the Orange coasted to a 96-54 victory.

SU head coach Jim Boeheim said he was happy with the easy wins over Florida Southern and LeMoyne last Monday.

“The teams we’ve played have moved the ball, and did a lot of good things that we will see and will need to practice,” Boeheim said. “I thought we moved the ball well. We got a lot of good shots and good opportunities, especially early in the game. We made a lot of shots early. It was good.”

Defensive intensity

Syracuse started the game with a 30-5 run, but it was the defense that set the tone.

Florida Southern was forced into 16 turnovers in the first half, and when the half ended Syracuse was up 31 points.

“Overall our defense for the first 13 to 14 minutes was really good,” Boeheim said. “We were active and forced a lot of turnovers. We really didn’t give them any good looks.”

When the Moccasins weren’t turning the ball over, their offense still suffered as they forced up three-pointers in the effort to avoid a shot clock violation. The Moccasins finished the game 9-for-39 from three.

Their leading scorer was Senior guard Dominique Williams who scored 23 points.

  Syracuse starters

Syracuse’s stingy defense led to six players scoring in double digits.

Freshmen forward Malachi Richardson led the team in scoring with 18 points, six rebounds, two assists, and three steals.

“Everyone on our team can score, everyone can rebound and pass,” Richardson said. “It helps out a lot. It spaces the floor out really well for us and gets us open shots.”

Trevor Cooney benefited greatly from the open shots Richardson talked about after the game.

In the second half Cooney made his presence felt scoring 10 of his 15 points. His bread and butter came from screens set near the baseline that set him up for open three-pointers and drives to the basket.

“I definitely want to continue to move on offense and come off as many screens as possible,” Cooney said. “If the play isn’t there we can swing to the other side and get another screen.”

Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson were the other the starters who scored in double-figures. Gbinijie had a quiet 14 points, and Roberson made shots inside the paint and around the perimeter to give himself ten.

The Bench

The bench scored 22 points in the first half. Half of those points were because of guard Kaleb Joseph, who provided an early spark for Syracuse as he went 3 for 3 from downtown in the first half.

“I worked real hard this summer” Joseph said.” I proved it to myself that I belong and I feel very confident when out there on the court.”

Last year Joseph was the starter, but Gbinije has replaced him this year. However, Joseph says he is not bothered by it he just wants to be consistent and provide energy.

Joseph finished with 13 points, and freshmanTyler Lydon gave some help off the bench with 12.

Future improvements

Reflecting on their two exhibition wins, defense is the area the Orange wants to improve on the most.

“We just have to continue to focus on defense and stopping teams,“ Cooney said. “Defense is going to make offense a lot easier for us. If were able to be a good 2-3 team were going to be in every game we play.”

The Orange officially starts the season this Friday, Nov. 13 in the Carrier Dome against Lehigh University at 7 p.m.

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Freshman Quarterback Comes Up Big

Syracuse, N.Y. – The Syracuse Orange whipped the Rhode Island Rams 47-0 Friday night at the Carrier Dome, despite the déjà vu that occurred, losing starting quarterback Terrel Hunt early in the first quarter. Syracuse’s defense set the tone for the game, and freshman quarterback Eric Dungey made sure the offense did not miss a beat with the loss of Hunt.

Sloppy start

The first three possessions of the game resulted in turnovers. Syracuse’s kicker Ryan Norton, forced a fumble on Rhode Island’s senior Myles Holmes on the opening kick return. Freshman Dante Strickland for the Orange recovered the fumble, but Hunt gave the ball back as he was intercepted by Holmes, two players later.

On the third possession the Rams fumbled again. This time, sophomore running back Harold Cooper coughed up the ball. Orange freshman Kayton Samuels recovered the fumble, but the Orange could not convert.

The Rams turned the ball over once again as Syracuse’s senior cornerback Corey Winfield put the first points on the board with a 24-yard pick-six, just over four minutes into in the first quarter, putting Syracuse up 7-0 after sophomore kicker Cole Murphy’s extra point.

Two drives later the redshirt senior Hunt stepped awkwardly as he was running to his left and stumbled to the turf. He left the game and eventually hobbled to the locker room on crutches with what Coach Scott Shafer said was an Achilles tendon injury. Hunt, who missed most of last season with an injury, was 0-of-2 for passing with one interception when he went down.

“Terrel’s deal is not good,” Schafer said, “So just keep your thoughts and prayers out there for him.”

Dungey takes over

When Syracuse’s freshman Dungey took the field for the first time, he moved the offense down the field on a 60-yard scoring drive. It led to his first career passing touchdown for 32-yards to sophomore running back Ervin Phillips.

“[My teammates] had more faith in me than I had in me,” Dungey said. “It definitely took pressure off.”

Syracuse ended the first quarter ahead 14-0, but it was just the start of the high scoring.

The Orange opened the second quarter with a field goal and another forced fumble. Converting off of the fumble, Dungey and Phillips connected again for a 9-yard touchdown pass that gave the Orange a 24-0 lead.

Junior receiver Brisly Estime then returned a punt 74 yards as time expired in the first half, giving the Orange a 31-0 cushion.

Second half: more of the same

The Orange went right back to the end zone on the opening drive in the second half.

Freshman running back Jordan Fredericks earned a 13-yard touchdown to build Syracuse’s lead to 38-0. Fredericks led Syracuse with 103 yards rushing on 14 carries for the game.

The defense then took the lead to 40-0 by getting a safety on the Rams’ quarterback Paul Mroz. He made an illegal double pass which was the result of the Orange’s D-Line batting his initial pass back to him. Mroz caught the ball and threw it again for a completion but by rule that’s not allowed.

The Syracuse defense held Rhode Island to 64-yards of total offense. Sophomore captain Zaire Franklin had six tackles, one for a sack.

Freshman running back Dontae Strickland finished the scoring with a 21-yard run that gave Syracuse a 47-0 victory in the opener.

Syracuse reserves played most of the fourth quarter with sophomore Austin Wilson taking over at quarterback and mostly handing off as the Orange controlled the ball and the clock.

Dungey went 10-of-17 for a 114-yards with two touchdown passes in his first college game.

“We don’t have to change anything,” Shafer said, “Eric has the skill set that can do every part of our offense.”

Demon Deacons next

The Orange’s next game is at the Carrier Dome in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener against Wake Forest next Saturday, Sept. 12 at 12:30 p.m.

“Were looking forward to getting Wake Forest in here and going after them and getting number two,” Schafer said.

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My speech/testimony/encouragement to the high school graduates of 2015!

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Campus Commercial for Wiley Basketball Team

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Wildcat Rewind - Phillip Miller Phillip Miller talks about his 29 point game against rival Jarvis Christian College and the confidence of the team going on the road to finish out the season.

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Wildcat Rewind - Terrell Guy (2/18/15) Terrell Guy discusses his role and responsibility on the team and his thoughts on finishing the season strong.

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Wildcat Rewind - Bianca Davis (2/18/15) Bianca Davis talks about her importance to the team and how she feels about finishing the season on the road.

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Wildcat Rewind - Gelese Lampton (2/18/15) Gelese Lampton talks about her confidence for the Lady Wildcats to finish the season strong on the road and her performance against Jarvis Christian College.

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Wildcat Rewind - Coach Hartsfield (2/16/14)

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Miscellaneous TV News

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Wildcat Rewind - Coach Goodwin (2/6/15) Coach Goodwin talks about the 2-0 start on the baseball season!

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Wildcat Rewind - Issiah Thomas (2/7/15) Issiah Thomas discusses his mindset as the season comes to a close and how he feels after a 1-1 weekend against LSU-Alexandria and LSU-Shreveport.

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Wildcat Rewind - Jimelliah Price (2/7/15) Marshall, Texas – Over the weekend, 14Wiley College’s women’s basketball team and the men’s team played back-to-backs in which they faced LSU-Alexandria and LSU-Shreveport on Friday and Saturday. The Lady Wildcats finished 2-0 and the men ended the weekend 1-1. The Lady Wildcats top performers over the weekend were Senior, Tyeka Ranton against LSU-Alexandria and Sophomore Jimelliah Price against LSU-Shreveport. On Friday, Ranton ignited the Lady Wildcats to an 83-70 win over LSU-Alexandria as she racked up 12 points, 4 assist, and 7 rebounds. Also on Friday, Wiley College’s men basketball team faced the same team where they had the opportunity to lock in being first in the conference. Though the Wildcats fell short of victory senior Dajuan Cooper had a double-double with12 points and 12 rebounds against the #19 LSU-Alexandria. On Saturday, Price stuffed her stat sheet with 20pts, 5stls, 8rbs, and 2 blocks against LSU-Shreveport, winning 76-66. The Lady Wildcats are still ranked #14 and are now 12-2 in the conference and 17-2 overall. The men’s basketball team bounced back against LSU-Shreveport where they won 79-75. Helping them capture the victory was Senior Phillip Miller who tacked on 23pts, 5stls, and 3 stls. In addition to his effort, Cooper earned another double-double of 12pts and 12rbs that sent the Wildcats over the top to the four point victory. They are now 11-3 in the conference and 15-8 overall. Their next matchup is this Friday against (4-19) Paul Quinn in Wiley College’s ALUMNI Gymnasium as they continue to seek the number one spot in conference.

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BIG Weekend

Both Wiley College’s men and women basketball team finished 2-0 while on the road. The Lady Wildcats took their teamwork to the next level while the men’s basketball team witnessed a career high performance by Sophomore George Page. Ranked 14 Wiley College’s women basketball team dominated the weekend against Southwest at New Mexico on Thursday, 94-46, and then St. Thomas at Houston on Saturday, 81-58. With the Lady Wildcats team play through the roof, it was unlikely that one player would carry the load. Over the weekend the Lady Wildcats forced a combined 45 turnovers as testament to their defense. As a result, their defense was turned into offense as 5 players scored in double digits both games. The 14Lady Wildcats are now 10-2 in conference and 15-2 overall. Following the Lady Wildcats, the scoring was not as balanced for the men. Wiley College’s men basketball team took on Southwest at New Mexico Thursday in which they won 109-96. Then they went to St. Thomas and won in overtime 92-87 on Saturday. Against Southwest at New Mexico, Sophomore George Page scored a career high 34 points and grabbed 9 rebounds as he benefitted from Senior Phillip Miller being double team the whole game, but Miller still managed to get 16 points. In the next matchup in Houston against St. Thomas, the men finished big in overtime as Miller resurrected from the double team in the last game and scored 43 points to beat St. Thomas 92-87. Wiley Colleges men basketball team is now 10-2 in conference and 14-7 overall. Both the women’s and men’s basketball team next game is this Friday, February 6th against LSU-Alexandria in Wiley College’s ALUMNI Gymnasium. The men will be playing for the number one spot in conference and the Lady Wildcats will look to keep dominating as the playoffs rapidly approach.

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Wildcat Rewind - Kayla Brown (1/26/2015) Edward "E-Mc Stats" McFarland interviews Kayla Brown about her 1,000 career point scored over the weekend and also beating the top team in the conference.