Orange women’s basketball loses on last-second shot in Big East opener
HARTFORD, Conn. – Quentin Hillsman assumed the outcome of his team’s game against St. John’s would be decided in the final few possessions. But the Syracuse head coach would never have expected to be eliminated in the first round of the Big East tournament on a jump shot from a broken play. With 10.1 seconds left in a tie game, Red Storm guard Sky Lindsay took the ball, looking to clear up space and assist forward Aricia Mitchell on a potential game-winning jumper. The Syracuse defense executed with precision, swarming Mitchell and the rest of Lindsay’s options.
Lindsay realized that her coach’s designated play was crumbling right before her eyes. She had to improvise. ‘I’m saying in my head ‘I know this isn’t the play, but I’m feeling confident,” Lindsay said. ‘So I went for the shot.’ Lindsay drove inside, stopped right above the free-throw line and drained a mid-range shot over Syracuse guard Tasha Harris with 1.9 seconds left, propelling the Red Storm to a 63-61 victory March 6 over the Orange, ending the team’s brief postseason stint. Hillsman couldn’t have designed a better strategy. Mitchell and guard Kelly McManmon, the hottest shooters throughout the game for the Red Storm (17-13), couldn’t break free from diagonal screens and were relegated to spectators, forcing Lindsay, who was 3-for-16 from the field at that point, to take the shot.
‘I give Sky a lot of credit for making that shot,’ Hillsman said. ‘She made a big shot. Tasha was there to contest the shot and did a good job of doing what we asked her to do: to stay in between the ball and the basket and just contesting that ball.’ Still, the Orange (16-14, 5-11 Big East) had an opportunity to prevent the breakdown. Just 12 minutes earlier, Syracuse had boasted a 45-34 lead and appeared to have solidified a spot in the second round against fifth-seeded Notre Dame.
Even with SU forward Nicole Michael primarily on the bench with foul trouble, guard Lynnae Lampkins and forward Juanita Ward provided a spark off the Syracuse bench, combining to score 20 points.
All of a sudden, the Orange reverted to its former habits, and the second half woes that plagued the Orange in the regular season returned to haunt the squad once again in the postseason. ‘It was a tale of two halves,’ SU point guard Erica Morrow said. ‘We just weren’t converting on easy baskets and missed baskets we usually make.’
Realizing her team was getting manhandled, SJU head coach Kim Barnes Arico began to employ a press defense that baffled the Orange. Guards Chandrea Jones and Morrow, the team’s leading scorers, were limited to 10 and 9 points, respectively.
‘We didn’t do much the first half like we did the second half,’ Lindsay said. ‘We did full-court pressure the second half. We definitely focused on Jones because she killed us at our gym on Valentine’s Day, so we made sure we limited her touches.’ The Red Storm accomplished just that. Then, with three minutes remaining, Red Storm guard Kristen Moore drilled a jumper over Syracuse forward Vionca Murray that gave St. John’s its first lead since there were three minutes left in the first half. Jones, however, broke out of her funk in the final minute. Trailing 61-57 with 1:06 remaining, Jones converted a clutch layup and two free throws to deadlock the game. But the late-game heroics wouldn’t suffice.
After Lindsay’s game-clinching shot and a Harris traveling call, Jones immediately fouled Lindsay, hoping to get one more chance at redemption. Lindsay missed the free throw, but Syracuse forward Nicole Michael chucked full-court prayer. It would be the Orange’s fourth loss by two points or less this season.
‘Obviously we’re very disappointed in the loss and the second year in a row coming here and losing in the first round,’ Hillsman said. ‘It’s not what we came here to do, an early exit in the tournament. They just did a good job of executing down the stretch.’ dsmorais@syr.edu
