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Teams: Syracuse Orange (6-4, 0-0) vs. No. 22 West Virginia Mountaineers (8-1, 0-0)
Date and Time: Sunday, December 22, 1:30 p.m. ET.
Location: Winter Park, Fla. in the Sunshine Classic
TV Network: Streamed online at Flohoops.com, with a subscription.
Radio: Cuse.com
West Virginia Blog: The Smoking Musket
Rivalry: 14-9, West Virginia
Last Meeting: In the final year WVU was in the Big East, the ‘Eers beat the Orange 63-48 in the Big East Tournament.
Head Coaches: Syracuse - Quentin Hillsman (14th year, 294-149 at SU) | West Virginia - Mike Carey (19th year, 346-182 at WVU)
Coach Bio: Mike Carey has been the head coach for West Virginia since I was two years old (not to date anyone). In 2001, he moved to Morgantown after serving as the head men’s coach at division 2 II Salem University from 1988-2001. Salem is also where he played his college ball, and when coaching there he accumulated a 288-102 record. In 2010, he won the Big East coach of the year after a 29-6 record.
Last Year: A year ago West Virginia went 22-11, and failed to reach the NCAA tournament despite a pretty good season. The Mountaineers finished 11-7 in Big 12 play, and were bounced from the WNIT by Northwestern.
“Fear Me, I’ve Killed Hundreds of Timelords”: Redshirt junior Kysre Gondrezick is the West Virginia leading scorer at 16.4 ppg. She is the exact kind of player Syracuse has had trouble with this season, so look for an emphasis on her early like we have seen with other good guards this year. She is also shooting 40% from long range this year, so if her shots start falling, this could be ugly quick.
If Syracuse Wins: Coach Q could potentially put Syracuse back in the top 25 after back to back wins over ranked opponents. A win here would show Syracuse can hang with anyone, and after dropping a few tough games early, the Orange have figured out there identity.
If Syracuse loses: Damn. This would’ve been just what Syracuse needed. Beating Michigan State was already big, but beating WVU would be like an early Christmas present.