LOUDONVILLE — Syracuse women’s basketball guard Julie McBride came home to a rousing ovation Friday night. Too bad the junior couldn’t live up to the acclaim.

McBride — who played at nearby Catholic Central High School — missed 12 shots as Siena defeated Syracuse, 83-66, on Friday at the Alumni Recreation Center in the opening round of the WNIT.

‘No, I was not (happy with my play),’ McBride said. ‘We lost. That’s my responsibility. I shot 4 of 16 from the floor. That’s just terrible.’

McBride was not the only starter to struggle. Guard Rochelle Coleman scored her first points early in the second half. Freshman Tierra Jackson ended up with eight points and three rebounds. She was overmatched by Liene Jansone.

The only impressive starter was forward Shannon Perry, whose 14 points and 11 rebounds marked her 10th career double-double.

But it was McBride’s struggles which cost SU (0-1) most. Though she led Syracuse with 17 points, McBride never established a rhythm. Credit Siena head coach Gina Castelli’s defensive scheme, which held the guard to five shots in the first half. Siena (1-0) led, 40-27, at halftime.

‘We were face-guarding McBride,’ said Castelli, the winningest coach in Siena history. ‘The whole objective was to try to control the tempo. What we were trying to do was just mix it up so that it kept her a little bit off-balance and thinking about what to do.’

McBride seemed like a different player early in the second half. Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman moved McBride to shooting guard, allowing her to come off screens and take open shots.

The junior contributed one steal, one assist and hit two straight three-pointers as Syracuse made up nine points in the first 2:19 of the second half to cut the deficit to four. As Siena called timeout, McBride was fired-up, screaming as she walked toward the bench.

‘I was just playing my game,’ McBride said of her early second-half spurt. ‘I don’t like to lose, and I don’t like being down. Second half, it was a new 20 minutes. We wanted to come out strong in the second half, especially in the first couple minutes.’

A layup by Coleman with 10 minutes left cut Siena’s lead to three. But the Saints followed with a 10-0 run, showing great ball movement and pressing on defense. Siena shot 10 of 21 from beyond the arc, effectively dismantling SU’s zone defense.

‘With them playing zone, we had to make shots,’ Castelli said. ‘That was the other thing we kept saying. I didn’t want to put the pressure on the team to make shots, but in a zone, that’s what you have to do.’

The Orangewomen never again threatened, as McBride missed her final nine shots.

With 19.7 seconds left, McBride’s disappointing evening got worse. As she released her final shot, McBride turned and fell out of bounds. After several minutes of wincing on the floor, McBride limped off to the bench gripping her lower right leg.

After the game — and with ice on each calf — McBride said she felt fine. Freeman, though, mentioned McBride’s calves were ‘sore.’ Syracuse’s next game is Friday at Harvard, giving McBride one week to rest.

For Syracuse, this marks its first season-opening loss in four years.

‘We didn’t follow through with the game plan,’ Freeman said. ‘Siena is a very good basketball team. So I knew we had a handful. We are a much better team than how we played. Tonight we just weren’t at our best, and Siena was at their very best.’

Published on November 17, 2002 at 12:00 pm