A First Power 5 victory for Syracuse against Iowa State in Las Vegas and improve to 5-1 on the season
By Nicholas Waley | @nicholas_waley
Syracuse and Iowa State went toe to toe through the first half, but the Orange overpowered the Cyclones in the 2nd half for a 81-69 victory at the South Point Thanksgiving Shootout in Las Vegas.
The first half was a story of parallels between Syracuse and Iowa State. Both teams matched each other in the 1st and 2nd quarters, both scoring 22 and 17 points each. It was 39-39 going into halftime. The Orange came out firing in the second half and went on a 7-0 run behind the continued excellence of Alaina Rice and Dyaisha Fair. Syracuse took its largest lead of the game of 11 and looked unstoppable. However, Iowa State cut the lead to 4 through dominance in the paint from freshman Audi Crooks who went 10-12 from the field on the day.
Unfortunately for the Cyclones, the dominance of Fair and Rice couldn’t be matched. 55 of the 81 points scored by SU came from the two guards. Despite being out-rebounded 40-37, Syracuse would pull away in the final 2 minutes and seal the victory in Las Vegas.
As mentioned, Alaina Rice had a career day in multiple categories. Most notably, a career high 26 points in 40 minutes of game time. Another career stat was the 4 three pointers for the Grad student which helped Syracuse pull away from ISU. Rice went 53% from the field and 4-6 from downtown, showing another dimension in an already formidable Syracuse offense.
There were some questions going into the game about Dyashia Fair after scoring under 10 points for the first time in her Syracuse Career. However the Buffalo transferresponded in the only way she knew. Fair had a season-high 29 points for the Cuse, shooting 48% from the field on 25 shots to go with 4 rebounds.
Felisha Legette Jack and company have 4 days to prepare for the SEC/ACC Challenge againsts none other than the University of Alabama at the JMA WirelessDome. The Crimson Tide come off of a ranked victory against #20 Louisville and a loss against 5-1 Gonzaga before they take on Liberty University tomorrow. Tip-off for the game on Nov. 30 is at 7p.m.
