@CanesWBB Falls on the Road at RV/No. 24 Syracuse

No. 14/14 Miami4881RV/No. 24 Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. – The University of Miami women’s basketball team dropped an 81-48 decision at RV/No. 24 Syracuse Sunday evening at the Carrier Dome.

No. 14/14 Miami (14-5, 3-4 ACC) was led by 12 points apiece from senior guard Adrienne Motley and sophomore forward/center Emese Hof. Meanwhile, the Orange, coming off an appearance in the NCAA national championship last season, moved to 10-0 at home on the season.

“Obviously, not a performance that we are going to be very proud of,” Miami head coach Katie Meier said, “but I think Syracuse should be very proud of itself.”

After a fast-paced, up-and-down opening period, Syracuse (14-7, 5-3 ACC) held a six-point advantage, 20-14.

A strong second quarter from the Orange helped them stretch their lead to as much as 17, en route to a 45-29 edge at the break. Syracuse outscored Miami by 14, 16-2, in points off turnovers during the first 20 minutes.

The Hurricanes trimmed their deficit to 13 during the third period, but the Orange’s strong play the remainder of the frame helped them build a 64-38 lead headed into the final session.

Miami was unable to claw back in the fourth period and the Orange earned their 16th consecutive home victory.

Senior guard Jessica Thomas was the third Hurricane to register double-digit points in the contest, notching 10. Four Miami players fouled out during the game.

Syracuse redshirt senior guard Brittney Sykes led all scorers with 29 points and added 11 rebounds to finish with a double-double. Senior guard Alexis Peterson, the ACC’s leading scorer, notched 24 points and freshman guard Gabby Cooper added 11 for the Orange.

Miami finished the game 8-of-16 (50.0 percent) from the free throw line, while Syracuse was 25-of-32 (78.1 percent).

“Their length took away a lot of our vision of our attacking guards,” Meier said. “I really thought Adrienne Motley and Jessica Thomas played their guts out. Syracuse was not going to let those two beat them, but they were really trying to facilitate, really trying to generate. We missed the swings players today. We missed a player who could take it from 15 feet in. We have them, we just didn’t [on this day]. Today wasn’t their day. You got to have a second level kid to beat their type of pressure.”

With her final shot of the day, Motley moved into a tie with Robin Harmony (1980-84) for No. 10 on the Hurricanes’ career field goal attempts list with 1,378.

Miami will now have two straight home games at the Watsco Center, first hosting North Carolina Thursday at 7 p.m.

To keep up with the University of Miami women’s basketball team on social media, follow @CanesWBB on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

MIAMI HURRICANES POSTGAME NOTES

·         For the first time all season, Miami used a starting lineup of sophomore guard Laura Cornelius, redshirt senior forward Keyona Hayes, Hof, Motley and Thomas. It was Hof’s first start of the season and Cornelius’ first since 11/16/16.

·         This game capped a stretch of five straight contests against top-25 opponents for the Hurricanes. Six of Miami’s first seven ACC opponents were ranked.

·         Following a 63-59 defeat Jan. 15 at No. 9/8 Louisville, this is now the first time in 2016-17 Miami has dropped back-to-back games.

·         The Hurricanes’ last defeat by 30-plus points was Jan. 31, 2013, when they fell at No. 5/4 Duke, 82-43.

·         Cornelius reached 50 games played as a Hurricane, Thomas eclipsed 150 steals in her career, Hof reached 50 games played at Miami and Motley reached 3,500 minutes played as a collegian.

Photo courtesy of Syracuse Athletics.