Syracuse women’s basketball beats Maryland-Eastern Shore, 65-50

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team was able to get the job done against the Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks during a 65-50 win on Tuesday night, improving to 2-0 on the year.

It was another sluggish start for the Orange as the shots didn’t fall early, much like the last game against Ohio, and the Hawks jumped out to a 10-3 lead. This was worrisome, as for the second straight game, an inferior opponent was able to control the game early, but the SU finally settled in late in the first quarter. A Digna Strautmane three with 11 seconds left would give Syracuse the lead 14-13 after one quarter. Coach Q and the Cuse would never look back.

‘Cuse would distance themselves from the undersized Maryland Eastern-Shore team in the second but not from the paint where they have the clear advantage. Three consecutive shots from behind the arc, two from Taleah Washington, both assisted by Emily Engstler, would give the Orange a 25-15 lead. Syracuse would take a 29-20 lead going into the break, even though it felt like they should be outscoring the Hawks by much more. Maryland Eastern Shore would shoot just 2-12 in the second. Adrienne Jones would tally 8 points leading her Hawks team in scoring in the first half.

Early in the third Syracuse wanted to start out hot, to really put Maryland-Eastern Shore away And slowly but surely, they did thanks to some cold shooting by the Hawks. Emily Engstler and Gabrielle Cooper got the scoring going for the Orange as back to back shots from Cooper gave Syracuse a 38-22 lead with 6:01 left in the quarter. A pair of threes from Digna Strautmane would completely blow this thing open and the rout was on. Maryland Eastern Shore could get nothing going and the more athletic SU knocked down enough shots to really never make this a game.

The Hawks stood their ground in the rebounding department in this game however, only getting beat 43-39 on the boards. Their 23 bench points would outscore the Orange’s 15, but that would be about the only statistical category they would win tonight.

Syracuse won the game 65-50, shooting 35.9% from the field and going 14-of-37 from beyond the arc. Emily Engstler, Digna Strautmane, Gabrielle Cooper, and Taleah Washington all got into double figures scoring. Strautmane would lead all scorers with 17, and a double-double from Engstler (15 points, 11 rebounds) is great news as she looks to take control of this team. Adrienne Jones of Maryland-Eastern Shore led her Hawks team with 9 points. Syracuse also recorded 11 steals — five of them being from Kiara Lewis.

It wasn’t the prettiest game, but a win sets the Orange up for a date with in-state foe UAlbany on Saturday, and will then welcome the talk of some of the sports world, the Oregon Ducks.

As many know by now, Oregon became just the second college team to take down the U.S. National team in an exhibition a few days ago. Syracuse will host the Ducks on November 24 at 4 p.m. ET.