The scoreboard revealed a 21-point, second-half lead for Syracuse, but Georgetown wasn’t ready to give up and go home.

The Hoyas climbed to within 11, and the Orangewomen needed a big second-half run sparked by Jaime James and several key plays from Shannon Perry to beat Georgetown, 89-61, Saturday afternoon at Manley Field House.

‘At no time did I feel like we were not in control of the basketball game,’ head coach Marianna Freeman said.

Syracuse (10-6, 3-2 Big East) won its 10th game faster than any Orangewomen team since the 1989-90 squad, which started 10-3. If the Orangewomen can win four of their final 11 games, they will finish over .500 for the first time in Freeman’s nine-year tenure.

Syracuse used its touch from behind the three-point line to key two big runs. SU shot 6 for 9 from behind the arc in the first half and finished 13 for 23. The 13 three-pointers broke the previous record of 11 set last Feb. 3 against Providence. James hit seven three-pointers on her way to a career-high 33 points, including 26 in the second half.

‘The most inconsistent part of the game of basketball is shooting,’ Freeman said. ‘Some nights you’re on and some nights you’re not. Today was one of the days when we shot the ball extremely well.’

Playing a zone defense, Georgetown (9-8, 1-5) gave Syracuse open outside shots. SU gratefully accepted the long-range gifts, especially in the second half when it outscored the Hoyas 39-14 over the last 11 minutes.

After Georgetown cut the lead to 11, Perry sparked Syracuse when she checked in for Julie McBride, who exited earlier with four fouls. Perry followed a beautiful feed to Jazmine Wright for a layup with one of her own to put Syracuse ahead by 15. After adding another assist, Perry sliced through the Georgetown defense for a layup, and suddenly the Orangewomen had regained momentum and control.

‘The kids have good spirit,’ Georgetown head coach Patrick Knapp said. ‘They’re good kids. But we couldn’t sustain it. We couldn’t score. They got rebounds, and they fast broke on us. That really extended the lead.’

And Perry still wasn’t finished. She added two more assists as Syracuse went on a 13-0 run spanning three minutes. Perry finished with 10 points, five rebounds and six steals.

‘I just tried to get the game going,’ Perry said. ‘We were up by not too much at halftime and I knew we needed to step it up a little bit. We all just ran, and it worked out for us.’

Perry’s outburst marked the second Syracuse explosion of the game. For the first part of the first half the teams held a three-point clinic, exchanging baskets with neither team taking control. They shot a combined 9 for 14 from three-point range in the first half.

Syracuse led by just two with eight minutes remaining in the first half, but a McBride three-pointer keyed a 17-6 Syracuse run to finish the half. McBride scored 16 in the first half, shooting 5 for 8, including 3 for 5 from behind the arc.

SU started the second half on a 5-0 run on its way to a 21-point lead before the Hoyas came fighting back.

While Syracuse has put itself in the thick of postseason consideration with its 10-6 start, tougher Big East opponents lie ahead. SU faces second-place Virginia Tech on Wednesday night at Manley Field House, while traditional conference powerhouses Notre Dame and Connecticut lurk further ahead on the schedule.

Still, any win over a Big East opponent was just cause for the smiles and giggles in the postgame press conference.

‘I did tell the team to have fun, but we weren’t taking Georgetown for granted by any means,’ Freeman said. ‘You can’t do that in the Big East. You will be an unhappy team.’

Published on January 21, 2002 at 12:00 pm