After regular-season struggles, SU looks for fresh start in NIT
Erica Morrow knew the last-second jumper that eliminated the Syracuse women’s basketball team from the Big East tournament could mean the final bell had tolled on the Orange’s season. Not just from the NCAA Tournament, but from the NIT as well.
And to make matters worse, during that game, Morrow and her friends on St. John’s, the team that hit the winning shot, talked about which squad would now earn the right to play in the NIT.
‘I was a little nervous about that one,’ Morrow said. ‘Kind of the word was they were choosing between us two because nobody knew. So I was like we beat them during the year, they beat us in the Big East tournament, which is postseason in itself, so we weren’t sure.’
But in the end, the conversations about only one team being selected proved to be premature, as both St. John’s and Syracuse made the NIT.
With a bid in tow, Morrow and her teammates will now try and erase some of the painful memories from the regular season and start over as the Orange hosts Canisius tonight at 7 p.m. in the first round of the NIT. The winner will advance to face Bowling Green this weekend.
Morrow was sitting in E. S. Bird Library when she found out Syracuse made the NIT. Her best friend, St. Bonaventure guard Armelia Horton, called to let her know.
‘We’re going with a clean slate,’ Morrow said. ‘It’s postseason, that’s how we looked at it last year. It’s postseason, 0-0, zero wins, zero losses, just come in and play hard and try and get some wins.’
The chance at a clean slate might just be what the Orange needs, considering the Orange ended the season by losing 12 of its last 17 games. Coming into the season, the team was expected to finish in the top half of the Big East standings and stay in contention for a national ranking.
But after an 11-2 start, the Orange’s season took a turn for the worst once Big East play started. Despite starting 2-1 in conference, Syracuse lost 11 of its next 14 contests. Along the way, Syracuse lost in the final minute to Pittsburgh, West Virginia and Georgetown.
Despite the losses, the Orange still managed to find its way into the NIT tournament. Being granted a second life of sorts for a team that seemed destined to make the NCAA Tournament at the beginning of the season might be the revival Syracuse needs.
‘It’s a chance to come out and play and prove to yourself and to your supporters,’ SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said, ‘that we are a good basketball team and we have a chance to come out and play well and get back on our home floors. It’s going to be great to get in the Dome and play again.’
With that new start, Hillsman is telling his team to just play hard, rebound and compete the way the squad can. The coach who led Syracuse to back-to-back postseason appearances said he is not worried about his team’s regular season performance looming over the team.
One positive train of thought he has been preaching to his team is how the Orange is one of 113 teams still left playing in women’s basketball, while over 200 others are left watching the tournaments from the outside. His players have bought into the message.
‘I think we’re still making changes because even though we didn’t get as far as we did last year we still made changes from the past,’ SU senior Chandrea Jones said. ‘I think that winning this would just prove we are good and we can continue to do things.’
SU’s first opponent is no slouch though. Canisius, who finished 24-8 in the Metro Atlantic Conference, scrimmaged with the team earlier in the season and Hillsman said the Purple Eagles keep teams out of the paint and will try and take away the Orange’s dribble penetration. Both are key elements of the Orange’s game plan.
But as Morrow said, the postseason brings a new light and each team starts with a fresh slate. The only difference is that one loss spells the end of a season. While the Orange has had trouble staying away from losses, perhaps fighting for its life in the postseason will provide some extra motivation.
‘We try to leave the past in the past and go forward,’ Jones said. ‘And right now, our expectations are to win this NIT.
