Syracuse Women’s Basketball gets the job done in the season opener
By Kiran Costa | @Costa_Kiran
Syracuse women’s basketball finally got back on the court to start the 2024-2025 campaign, and it was no easy start. SU welcomed Niagara to the dome last Tuesday. The Purple Eagles are a team known for a tireless defensive full-court press labeled “Hurricane Havoc.” But even the full-court press couldn’t stop the Orange. They broke the century mark by scoring 108 points for the first time since November 2023. Once again it was a team effort offensively for Coach Felisha Leggette-Jack’s crew, ten different scorers with six in double figures. Kyra Wood led the way with 19 points, a career-high while shooting 75% from the field. We got our first look at the highly anticipated backcourt duo of Dominique Camp and Georgia Wooley, both finished in double-figures while Camp was one assist away from a double-double. It’s been a long road on the court for graduate student Dominique Camp. The guard is on her fourth different collegiate program, after single seasons with Troy, Buffalo, and Akron, she came to Syracuse at the start of last season. But minutes into the opening exhibition game of 2023 she suffered a torn ACL and missed the entirety of last season. In her first regular-season action since March of 2023 Camp showed out, she shot a perfect 3-3 from the field including a pair of three-pointers while dishing out a team-high nine assists. Woolley, who was battling injuries all offseason, exploded in the second half. After a quiet first two-quarters, Woolley scored 13 points in the final two frames, to finish the contest with 18. It wasn’t a perfect performance for Orange, they turned the ball over 30 times, which would have been a season-high last year. SU also gave away 10 points at the free throw line, including four misses from Kyra Wood.
Next up the ‘Cuse welcomes St. Josephs to the JMA Wireless Dome dome on Sunday at 2:00. The Hawks also started the season with a victory, 102-30 over Goldey-Beacom. Compared to the under-sizer Niagara squad, St Joes have two six-footer forwards who both put up double-doubles on opening night. They can also shoot the three-ball, senior Mackenzie Smith knocked down four shots from beyond the arc, half of the total eight. The Orange and the Hawks last met in 2013, when a buzzer-beater from Brittney Sykes lifted a then #23 in a thriller.
While St. Joe’s is a step up from Niagara, it should be easy pickings for an SU squad that has not lost a non-conference game at home since November 2019. The Orange need to cut down on the turnovers, after 30 giveaways last Tuesday. SU needs to keep getting the production up and and down the lineup, like they have in the first two games of the year. The second unit was great against Niagara, Shy Hawkins and Keira Scott both put up double digits off the bench. The season really picks up for Syracuse, as they will play two games a week until mid-December.
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