The storyline is familiar.

The Syracuse women’s basketball team upsets a team it has no business beating, then follows with a less-than-adequate performance against a subpar opponent.

Last week, it was a startling 76-71 road win over then-No. 24 Boston College followed by an offensive drought and 48-44 loss to Seton Hall.

Now, Syracuse is coming off another character-building road victory, over Miami, one in which it blew a 13-point halftime lead, then rallied to win in the final minutes, 62-59. But will the Orangewomen experience another letdown tonight at 7:30 at Alumni Hall against Big East doormat St. John’s?

‘No, believe me, we learned our lesson,’ SU point guard Julie McBride said. ‘We have to respect every team. The Seton Hall game, it was a wake-up call. Even though it sucks that it had to come in the 17th game of the season, hey, better late than never.’

‘We need this win and everyone knows that,’ shooting guard Shannon Perry said. ‘(Seton Hall) was a game we felt we should have won, and it shouldn’t have been that close. But we didn’t come out pumped up for it like we did for Boston College or Miami. We’ve got to approach every game like we’re facing a top team.’

St. John’s is far from a top team. Though SU and SJU each have seven wins, the seven teams the Red Storm have beaten are a combined 45-67. Among teams who’ve lost to St. John’s include no-names Stony Brook (4-13), Fairleigh Dickinson (3-13) and Florida Atlantic (6-10).

SJU also ranks last in the Big East in offense (58.1 points), assists per game (9.72) and turnover margin (minus-3.56).

Turnovers should be of particular interest to Syracuse. The Orangewomen’s 22 turnovers against Seton Hall cost them the game. Nineteen turnovers at Miami nearly did. But surprisingly, McBride isn’t concerned.

‘Turnovers happen,’ McBride said. ‘Every team turns the ball over. I’m sick of hearing, ‘Yeah, well we turn the ball over a lot.’ There’s been unforced turnovers that need to stop being made. But I don’t see a turnover as bad if the other team doesn’t score.’

While SU head coach Marianna Freeman was displeased with 19 turnovers against Miami, she doesn’t see playing a second consecutive Big East road game as a problem. In fact, she identifies it as an advantage for Syracuse.

‘It certainly has been a situation where I could say that the road has been kinder to us than what Manley (Field House) has been,’ said Freeman, whose team is 5-5 on the road and 2-6 at home. ‘My team tends to be a lot more focused when we’re away, because the only thing that we have to concentrate on is the basketball game.”

With games upcoming against No. 2 Connecticut, Notre Dame and No. 20 Villanova, you’d expect the usual cliches from SU, an 11th-place team. But you’re not going to hear the Orangewomen talk about taking it one game at a time.

‘I said before the (Miami) game that we have 10 games left, and we have to win every single one of them,’ McBride said. ‘We need to at least go 9-1 or 10-0 in the next 10 games, because our chances to make the Big East tournament (which the top 12 teams make) are dependent on that. We play at a different level against different teams. We can’t do that tonight.’

Published on January 28, 2003 at 12:00 pm