JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — April Carson received an inbounds pass and turned quickly to head up the court only for the Jacksonville guard to smack her head into the shoulder of Syracuse guard Diamond Henderson.

Henderson, with her arms square and standing straight, drew the charge. Carson couldn’t believe the call, and received a technical foul for yelling “What!” at an official.

Syracuse small forward Brianna Butler sank two technical free throws that gave Syracuse a 28-point lead just minutes into the second half.

It was that combination of Henderson and Butler that sparked No. 23 SU (3-0) to a 77-61 victory over Jacksonville (1-3) on Saturday in front of 576 at Swisher Gymnasium. Henderson scored 13 of her 14 points in the first half, and Butler finished with 16 points in 18 minutes.

“We all just came out with a lot of energy,” Butler said. “Our defense pushed and our offense was able to knock down shots.”

All 12 players who dressed for the Orange made an appearance in the first half. Briana Day won an uncontested opening tipoff, and made two layups in an 8-0 SU run to start the game.

Syracuse point guard Alexis Peterson diced into the paint with ease, and the SU defense forced four turnovers in the opening two and a half minutes.

But after a Jacksonville timeout, the Dolphins went on a run of their own. The home-team fans at Swisher – an arena that sits just a few thousand – rallied when Jacksonville took a 13-11 lead behind five points apiece from Loliya Briggs and Sherranda Reddick.

But from there, SU went on a 15-0 run spearheaded by Butler and Henderson. Butler, who is still recovering from a bruised left knee she injured two weeks ago in practice, sank a 3 from the right corner to give the Orange a 14-13 lead – a lead it didn’t relinquish.

“Bri shot the ball well. She has to make 3s for us to be effective,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “She spaced the floor and really helped us get this win tonight.”

Henderson scored the team’s next eight points, two free throws followed by two 3 pointers. The Tennessee Tech transfer Henderson hit another 3 at the 7:32 mark of the first half to give the Orange a 31-18 lead.

On SU’s next possession, guard Maggie Morrison won a battle on the floor for a loose ball and kicked it out to Henderson. As Henderson rose to shoot, a fan sitting courtside said loudly, “Buckets.”

Henderson’s contested pull-up jumper dropped through the net to extend the Orange lead to 33-18.

“It reminds you of AAU times and the high school days,” Henderson said. “I always love playing in a small gym. You really get to hear the crowd.”

Butler hit another 3 and a jump shot to give SU a 43-21 lead at the half.

“My teammates were able to find me and I was just getting in a groove early,” Butler said.

But in the second half, Butler played just five minutes. Henderson shot 0-of-6 from the field after sitting on the bench for a 4:41 stretch of the second half.

Butler made her last contribution to the blowout with 15:13 left in the game, sinking a pair of free throws to stretch SU’s lead to 53-25. When Henderson left the game with 3:58 left, SU led by 28.

SU’s advantage grew to 30 points in the middle of the second half, and the Orange didn’t allow the Dolphins to come within 20 until there was 1:01 was left in the game. By then, Butler and Henderson’s days were done. They had already run the Dolphins off their own court.

“We competed to the utmost today,” Henderson said. “We came in, and we didn’t want to be down in the first few minutes like we were (against Fordham and Duquesne). We came out more aggressive tonight.”

Published on November 22, 2014 at 9:01 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu