WBB : Morrow, Jones combine for 58 points in Syracuse’s opening win
LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. – When Quentin Hillsman courted then-high school senior Erica Morrow in attempt to lure her to Syracuse, the coach had a simple message for the Brooklyn native: he needed her to be ‘big time.’Morrow certainly lived up to the moniker Friday.
Morrow scored 21 of her 25 points in the second half, and along with Chandrea Jones, who scored a career-high 33 points, guided Syracuse in its season-opener as SU defeated Siena, 89-75, Friday night in front of 1,235 fans at Siena.
‘Erica’s a big-time player,’ Hillsman said. ‘She just stepped in, and she really just took the game over. She took every open shot in the second half.’
The big-time player took some time to get going against a better-than-expected Siena squad. In the first half, Morrow shot 1-for-5 with only four points. Her 3-point shot was not connecting, her shot selection was questionable, and she turned the ball over twice.
In the second half, Morrow took over the game. Syracuse had a 36-34 lead going into the second stanza, but Morrow’s second-half performance was the biggest reason Syracuse won the game by a double-digit margin.
Within the first three minutes, Morrow connected from downtown and scored on a 3-point play to extend the Orange’s lead to 10 with 17:37 remaining. When Siena closed the game to 70-63 with 6:20 remaining, Morrow did it again.
She connected with another 3-point shot, stole the ball and hit both free-throws on the successive foul. To follow it up, she drained a 3 from the top right arc to give SU a 78-63 lead that essentially ended any chance of a Siena comeback.
‘I think I was taking the wrong ones (in the first half) and forcing it a little,’ said Morrow, who finished with 25 points, six steals (career-high), five boards and five assists. ‘We were a little edgy. It’s our first game of the season, so once (Juanita)’s unstoppable on the boards, they have to sink into her and Chan(drea) driving to the basket. I think it opened up a lot for us on the perimeter, and I give credit to my teammates for driving and kicking.’
Jones was certainly one of those teammates. At the half, the team made 12-of-29 shots from the field. Five of those 12 field goals came from Jones, who scored 15 points in the first half.
With Siena leading 23-16 with 10:16 left in the first half, Jones scored 10 of the Orange’s next 15 points to tie the game at 31. Morrow said Jones countered every big play Siena made to help the Orange keep pace.
In the second, it was more of the same, scoring 18 points to finish up with 33 points and seven rebounds. Jones effectively got to the basket most of the night, scoring plenty of points in the paint. When they forced her outside, Jones found her outside stroke. She hit a 3-pointer from 5 feet behind the arc to give Syracuse a 49-38 lead and followed it up with another dagger by hitting a 3-point shot while being knocked to the floor.
‘That’s what coach told us to do, to get to the basket and we got to the basket,’ Jones said. ‘I (felt in the zone). I still give a lot of credit to my teammates, because they trust me. I say I did pretty good, it was a good night.’
Once Morrow became another option with Jones, Siena could not contain the Syracuse offense. Syracuse scored more points in the game than it did all of last season, and the 53 points scored in the second half were only two below its record last season.
Syracuse finished with 36 points in the paint, and shot 50 percent from long distance in the second half (Morrow shot 3-of-6 in the second).
Siena head coach Gina Castelli said her team could not ‘face-guard’ any of the Syracuse players because of their ability, and Siena was lucky Syracuse had trouble hitting shots early on.
Morrow and Jones stood out in the Orange’s first game and guided Syracuse to a tough win on the road. Jones played the better all-around game, but Morrow’s second-half explosion gave Syracuse the extra boost it needed.
‘We knew that if we played at the rim, they had two big girls,’ Morrow said. ‘And we know we have good enough shooters on the wings. Going to the rim opened things up on the outside.’
