The last time Syracuse played on the Carrier Dome floor, the Orange honored its senior class and proceeded to upset then-No. 13 Louisville.

The night of March 4 served as a punctuation mark to a strong home showing throughout the entire season. SU went 13-1 and on average outscored the visiting opponents by 24.2 points. All but one of the Orange’s 13 home victories were decided by more than 10 points.

Syracuse was dominant at home a year ago. The attempt at an encore starts Thursday night.

“It’s a new year,” SU senior guard Rachel Coffey said. “We’re coming in and we got to focus on this year.”

After gutting out a season-opening win at Washington State on Sunday, the Orange returns home and will play host in the Carrier Dome for the first time this season. SU (1-0) will take on Dartmouth (1-1) on Thursday at 7 p.m. in its home opener.

After a long offseason of training and practicing, SU head coach Quentin Hillsman is pleased the season is underway.

“It’s good to be playing,” Hillsman said. “We’re all to the point where we want to play, we’re kind of a little tired of practicing. We’re excited to have the games and we’re excited to be home.”

Still, the one-game road trip wasn’t easy. The Orange faced a Washington State team that finished 11-20 a year ago but returns four starters, and SU trailed by three points at halftime.

Brianna Butler — the second leading scorer of all SU’s returning players — shot just 1-of-8 from the field in the first half. As a team, the Orange struggled from 3-point range, shooting 2-for-11 in the first half, and shot less than 36 percent from the field.

But in the second half, Syracuse pulled it together. Senior center Shakeya Leary completed her double-double to finish with 21 points and 16 rebounds — a career-high in both categories.

Thanks to a strong second-half performance, the Orange heads into Thursday night’s matchup with the Big Green with confidence.

“I think we’re looking pretty good,” sophomore guard Brittney Sykes said. “It was a good win to have as a first game, being on the road and the other side of the country. It showed that what we do in practice pays off and those times we were tired, we fought through it.

“Going into this game on Thursday, I think we just got to work out the kinks we need to polish up and prepare for Dartmouth.”

Thursday’s meeting with the Big Green kicks off a 10-day, four-game stretch for the Orange, all at the Carrier Dome, where the team will have chances to round into form against nonconference opponents.

Although the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of SU’s schedule doesn’t start until January, the Orange understands the importance its nonconference slate holds as a test.

SU survived its first nonconference matchup. It’ll have home-court advantage in its second out-of-conference game, but Hillsman knows his team needs to play its game regardless of location.

“We take none of these games for granted,” Hillsman said. “We need to come out, execute, and play clean basketball. Play hard and do the things we need to do. That’s going to get us ready for our conference season.”

Published on November 14, 2013 at 1:07 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb