The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Colgate takes down Army in battle of defenses
Defending champion Lehigh scored three unearned runs in the fourth inning to defeat Colgate 3-1 in the finale of the teams’ league- opening series Monday afternoon at Leadership Park.
Colgate threatened in the top of the second as hits from firstyear Mia Guevarra and junior Baillie Jorth and a walk from junior Meghan Romero loaded the bases with no outs. Lehigh’s Parker Boyd got out of the jam, however, with a line out and pair of strikeouts to keep the Raiders off the board. Colgate bounced right back in the top of the third as sophomore Virginia Irby smacked a leadoff triple to the right field corner. Classmate Nicole Rounsavill followed with a sacrifice fly to left field to score Irby and give the Raiders a 1-0 advantage. First-year Bella Crow limited the Mountain Hawks to just two hits through the first three frames until Lehigh used four hits and Colgate error to score three unearned runs in the bottom of the fourth and take a 3- lead.
The Raiders scattered two hits in the final three frames, but weren’t able to get any run
forward Marek Dolezaj and 7-foot-2 junior center Paschal Chukwu — as the Orange coped with injuries: graduate transfer Geno Thorpe, who led South Florida in scoring the previous year, suffered a sprained ankle in preseason practice, played in just six games and left the program; the 6-10 Sidibe nursed a bad left knee for most of the season and will get it repaired in the offseason; Chukwu hurt his back in mid-February and never fully recovered; and freshman guard Howard Washington injured his right knee in practice and was lost for the season in January, though he had played sparingly.
It’s no wonder Battle and Howard were 1-2 in the nation in minutes played and Brissett tied for fourth.
“When you’re coaching a team and you have six guys, you say during the year that’s enough,” Boeheim said. “But ... three guys had to play 40 minutes every game.”
Two years ago, the Orange lost star guard Malachi Richardson to the NBA after one season in college and forward Tyler Lydon opted to leave last spring after his sophomore season and also was drafted. Now, it’s Battle’s turn to decide whether Syracuse will continue its streak of having at least one player selected in the first round of the NBA draft since 2012. Battle led the team in scoring (19.2), finishing with 712 points, the highest total for a sophomore in school history and sixth highest overall. Battle also was a second-teamAllACC selection.
Boeheim said last month on his weekly radio show that he expected Battle would get evaluated by scouts at the NBA draft combine in May before making a decision about next year. Battle appeared in mock drafts off and on during the season.
Even if Battle leaves, Syracuse will be in capable hands. Howard had a pretty steady junior year at point guard (14.4 points, 175 assists, 68 steals but 126 turnovers) in his first season as a starter, Brissett is an emerging star (14.9 points, 8.8 rebounds), Chukwu showed flashes of excellence, and Dolezaj shot 53.7 percent from the field and seemed to find his niche late in the season.
Themen’s basketball program is still feeling the impact of NCAA sanctions levied in 2015 for academic misconduct and extra benefits. It lost three scholarships a year for four years, through next season, but Boeheim has managed to build a nice core and has a trio of standout newcomers entering the program: 6-8 forward Darius Bazley, a five-star recruit and one of the top players in the class; shooting guard Jalen Carey, a four-star recruit; and three-star guard Buddy Boeheim, the coach’s youngest son.
Syracuse was not ranked at any point in 2017-18, the first time that’s happened to the Orange since 198182 and only the fourth time since Boeheim took over as head coach in 1976. Expect a return to normal next season.