Women's Basketball

Abby Grant ties career high in points in Syracuse women’s basketball’s dominating win

Courtesy of Syracuse Athletic Communications

Abby Grant tied her career high for points with nine.

Abby Grant’s 3-point output against Michigan State and Central Connecticut State didn’t reflect the sophomore guard’s shooting ability. Zero-for-3. Zero-for-4.

Her jump not as high and release not as clean, Grant entered Wednesday 4-for-32 from long range on the year.

But as No. 20 Syracuse (7-3) routed Coppin State (0-8), 76-30, in the Carrier Dome, Grant tied her career high in points with nine. She drained a season-high three 3-pointers on five attempts, nearly matching her total from the first nine games.

“There’s no way she shoots the way she does over the previous games and doesn’t make shots,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said, referencing her shooting lull. “Once she has her legs under her like she’s doing now, she’s a remarkable shooter.”

Hillsman approached Grant last week to find out why one of the team’s sharpshooters — one whom he said before the season would help replace the team’s lost 3-point shooting — struggled to find the net. She told him she had a sore Achilles tendon, which had limited her movement and inhibited her shot.



Grant took shots over the next few practices but stayed mostly off her feet to rest, Hillsman said.

She subbed into Wednesday’s game midway through the first quarter. Thirty-five seconds later, her first launch bounced off the rim. She hit her first triple a minute later, though, extending SU’s lead to 15-0. On a fast break, she hit her second, a deep ball from the wing that made it a 24-0 game and forced Coppin State head coach DeWayne Burroughs to call timeout.

Each time down the floor, she spotted up on both wings, looking for kicks from guards Alexis Peterson, Gabby Cooper and Brittney Sykes.

In the second quarter, just thirteen seconds after Grant subbed in again, Grant and Briana Day set high screens for Peterson. While Day rolled, Grant popped to the left wing and received a pass from Peterson. From a few feet beyond the arc, she drilled her third and final 3 of the day.

“I wasn’t really focused on, ‘Well I haven’t’ hit a shot in however many games,’” Grant said. “They were just setting me up.”

Even on her best display of the season, Hillsman didn’t want to rush back a still-sore Grant. Still, she flashed the shooting ability that hadn’t yet been seen this season.

“She’s capable of going off for five, however many 3s she wants to hit,” Sykes said.





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