Peterson’s 13 points, improved ball security guide Syracuse in blowout win
Larry E. Reid Jr. / Staff Photographer
Sophomore guard Alexis Peterson has been Syracuse’s sparkplug this season.
With a 9-0 lead against North Carolina Central on Sunday, a Peterson 3 continued an early onslaught from which the Orange never looked back.
The sophomore’s 3 was SU’s third triple in the first four and a half minutes and gave her six of the Orange’s first 12 points. It was another dynamic outing for SU’s leading scorer and even though it wasn’t as necessary in No. 20 Syracuse’s (7-1) 70-25 win over the Eagles (2-8) in the Carrier Dome, her 13 points and ball security embodied what led SU to a blowout victory.
“It’s been 10 days since we played so we had to find a way to get some energy, get some effort and get some points on the boards,” Peterson said, “and we knew we couldn’t start slow.”
While Peterson’s role has expanded since last season, she said she doesn’t feel any
additional pressure now that she’s more heavily relied upon. Hillsman said she’s a good off-ball defender because of her anticipation.
Though Peterson only collected three turnovers herself, she was all over the court.
Immediately following an Eagles timeout about two minutes into the second half, Peterson made a steal and canned a 3 just seconds later.
“Just to be aggressive,” Peterson said of the key on defense. “We like to get a lot of
deflections so we can get our early offense, get steals. We all want to be aggressive.”
Peterson leads Syracuse in turnovers committed, but against NCCU, she didn’t have a single one.
“Lex did a very good job of playing under control,” Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “She wasn’t turning the ball over and that’s huge for her to take care of the ball and run our team.”
Though it’s Peterson who was clearly the engine to SU’s hot start on Sunday, and the Orange’s hot start through eight games as a whole, she wasn’t about to take the credit.
Said Peterson: “Each night out it could be anyone.”
Published on December 14, 2014 at 3:57 pm
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