It's a game that was marked on the calendars for both Syracuse and UConn for quite some time, and not just because the Huskies are the #3 team in the country.
Cicero-North Syracuse alum Breanna Stewart, now a freshman star for the Huskies finally got the chance to play against her hometown team.
And she made the most of it.
Stewart scored 20 points and helped to lead Connecticut to an 87-62 win over Syracuse.
Below is the press release from SU Athletics:
HARTFORD, Conn. - Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosquedo-Lewis combined for 50 points to lead No. 3/2 Connecticut (16-1, 4-1) to an 87-62 victory over No. 23 Syracuse women's basketball (15-2, 3-1) in front of 14,789 at the XL Center on Saturday. Carmen Tyson-Thomas led four Orange scorers in double figures with 12 points.
The Orange made runs on the Huskies in each half, a 14-5 first-half run that pulled it within one, 28-27, and an 11-1 second-half run that made it a 12-point game, 69-57, but the Huskies answered with runs of their own, 13-2 to close the first half and 18-5 to close the second half.
Brianna Butler scored 11 points on 3-of-7 3-point shooting, while fellow freshman Brittney Sykes added 10 points on 2-of-4 shooting behind the arc and junior Rachel Coffey had 10 points on 2-of-3 shooting from 3-point range.
Dolson and Mosquedo-Lewis (6-13 3FGs) each had 25 points to lead the Huskies, while Breanna Stewart scored 12 points in the final 4:24 to finish with 20.
Brianna Butler hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions in the second half, pulling the Orange within 14, 56-42, with 15 minutes remaining, but UConn responded, taking its largest lead, 22 points, on a Mosquedo-Lewis jumper with 9:45 remaining that made it 68-46. SU used its trapping defense to force turnovers and spur an 11-1 run that pulled it within 12, 69-57, with 5:09 left. Tyson-Thomas and Sykes had back-to-back transition lay-ups off steals to fuel the run.
UConn raced out to a 23-14 lead midway through the first half, led by nine points from Dolson, but the Orange went 14-5 run that pulled it within one, 28-27, at the 5:48 mark on a jumper by Shakeya Leary. The Huskies then closed the half on a 13-2 run to head to the locker room with a 41-29 lead. Leary finished the game with seven points and seven rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes.
All-BIG EAST center Kayla Alexander played just 11 minutes total due to foul trouble, sitting the final 15:21 of the first half after picking up her second. She finished with four points and three rebounds before fouling out with 5:33 left. The senior center sits at 1,771 career points, 16 behind Nicole Michael's school record of 1,787.
The Orange travels to Queens, N.Y. to face to St. John's on Wednesday in an 11:30 a.m. tip at Carnesecca Arena.
Courtesy: SU Athletics
