Syracuse Gets Home Win vs Coppin State
On Thursday night, the Syracuse women's basketball team hosted an HBCU opponent, the Coppin State Eagles. The Orange started slow but won going away with a 93-75 victory.
On Wednesday's media day, Coach Jack said that despite Coppin States' losing record, they are a good team and play quickly. In the first quarter, the Eagles showed that quickness and jumped to an eight-point lead.
However, Coach Jack decided to bring star Asia Strong off the bench, proving to be a game-changer. Strong took pride in coming off the bench, finishing with sixteen points and three rebounds. Strong showed up to the post-game press conference wearing a hard hat to accentuate the hard work. Coach Jack explained the reasoning to have her come off the bench.
“Asia is a person that can watch the game for a second, a little bit, and then come in and really do some fun things. And it proved to be right. She came in, and had a mindset like, I'm gonna show you. No, you're gonna show us how we can win. And I think she understands that now.“ Coach Jack said.
The Orange staged a comeback in the first half to eventually take a six-point lead at halftime. Besides Strong bringing the spark off the bench, it was a familiar face that led the Orange in scoring the entire game. Her name is Dyasiha Fair. Fair scored 18 points in the first half alone. In the game overall, Fair had 27 points to go along with six assists. Make no mistake about it though, Fair is a true point guard and not just a scorer. Fair said it best speaking to the media after the game on getting her teammates involved throughout the game.
“I’m not just a scorer, so that's my mentality. When I see that I should try to get someone else involved on the floor, that's just what I do.” Fair said.
As a team overall, the Orange had their largest offensive output of the season with 93 points. The Orange also outdueled Coppin State when it came to offensive efficiency. From the three-point line the Orange shot an impressive 40 percent compared to just 19 percent for the Eagles. Three of Coppin State's five threes were made by Mossi Staples, who led the Eagles with 21 points.
The Orange also had a great outing from Teisha Hyman, hitting three of five from beyond the arc, finishing the game with 20 points and 5 assists.
The Orange now improve to 7-2 on the season, while Coppin State falls to 2-8. The next time Syracuse steps on the court, they will face the 4-4 Wagner Seahawks at the Dome Sunday at 2 p.m.
