Texas A&M 105, Syracuse 84: Aggies blitz Orange in Florida

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team introduced some new, throwback road uniforms on Wednesday night vs. Texas A&M. Unfortunately, just like when the men’s team wore the fan-favorite script jerseys, SU suffered a loss in the new duds. The Aggies defeated Syracuse 105-84 in a game that was never really that close.

After a dominating win over Old Dominion in game one of the Florida Sunshine Classic on Tuesday night, the no. 16/19 Orange were favored to best A&M -- especially after the Aggies were beaten soundly by Dayton. Instead, Texas A&M used a big free throw advantage (made 34 vs. 11 for SU) to grab their ninth win of the year.

Syracuse drops to 9-4, suffering their fourth non-conference defeat with a lot of difficult games still left to play within the ACC. It snapped a five-game winning streak for SU.

A&M got by on superior shooting (60 percent from the floor), free throws (see above) and most importantly vs. the Orange, taking care of the basketball. The Aggies turned it over just 14 times (Syracuse typically forces twice that amount) and also put several Orange starters in foul trouble during the game. Briana Day, Gabby Cooper and Brittney Sykes all had four fouls, while Bria Day fouled out with five.

Texas A&M outscored the Orange by seven in the first quarter, then continued to coast on from there. They led by eight at the break, and put things away for good in a 27-16 third quarter.

Though A&M won, it didn’t stop Alexis Peterson from being the leading scorer anyway. The Syracuse senior had 34 points, continuing to pace the Orange on offense. Sykes added 19 and Cooper had 12 for SU. Briana Day had a double-double, with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Highlights below. Syracuse has an eight-day break now until they begin ACC play at Louisville on December 29.