Kayla Alexander snatched a rebound, cleared space from undersized Cornell defenders and effortlessly laid the ball up and into the basket.

Alexander’s putback with 17:00 remaining gave the Orange a 23-point lead. Syracuse (3-0) never looked back, dominating Cornell (2-2) on the boards Friday night en route to an 80-35 blowout win at Newman Arena in Ithaca, NY. After getting outrebounded 18-17 in the first half, SU turned that stat around after halftime. Syracuse snagged 30 rebounds compared to 12 for CU in the second half.

The Orange ended up outrebounding Cornell 47-30, enabling SU to pile on 49 points in the second half and come away with the convincing 45-point win.

“I thought we started the game off slow,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “At halftime, I challenged them. I said we have to care and make sure we’re physical and aggressive.”

Syracuse heard that message loud and clear.

Alexander crashed the glass with authority in the second half, as Syracuse’s lead continued to skyrocket.

After her shot rolled around the rim and out with 9:14 to go in the game, Alexander grabbed yet another rebound, her 11^th of the game.  She converted on a jumper moments later, giving Syracuse a 58-24 advantage.

The Ontario native finished with 26 points and 13 rebounds, including eight offensive boards. After Alexander only scored four points in the first half, Hillsman said his team made a conscious effort to get her the ball in the low post.

“I think early a few times she was open and they weren’t getting her the ball,” Hillsman said. “That was tough, so we made sure every time she was open she got a touch.”

Along with Alexander, junior Shakeya Leary dominated on the glass, finishing with 16 points and nine rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass. Hillsman looked for Leary to be aggressive and assert herself inside the paint, and she did just that.

She finished 7-for-9 from the field, providing Syracuse with rebounding prowess off the bench. Despite her intensity and productivity, Leary was a bit too aggressive at times. Her minutes were limited in the second half due to foul trouble, and she eventually fouled out with 15 seconds to go.

“Shakeya was strong,” Hillsman said. “If she wasn’t in foul trouble she probably would have had a really big game.”

Alexander and Leary’s mammoth effort on the boards was the difference Friday night. Cornell was outmatched size-wise and couldn’t contain the 6-foot-4 inch Alexander and 6-foot-3 inch Leary.

Cornell forwards Clare Fitzpatrick and Kristina Danielak, both 6 foot 1, had difficulty matching the physicality and length of Alexander and Leary.

After starting the game 0-for-5 and not scoring a field goal until the 14:22 mark, Syracuse was out of whack offensively. Then, everything started to click, as the Orange began to rebound the ball and get easy layups.

Leary got the offense going by corralling an offensive rebound and getting fouled on a shot attempt. She went to the line and drilled two free throws.

From that point on, rebounding became contagious for Syracuse, particularly in the second half.

Syracuse travels to St. Joseph’s to face the Hawks Tuesday Nov. 20 at 5 p.m. The Orange will look to dominate on the boards yet again, this time against a bigger, more formidable team from a rebounding standpoint.

“Night-in and night-out we just need to continue to just pound the ball inside and play in the paint,” Hillsman said.

Published on November 16, 2012 at 9:09 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass