Hours after returning from Wednesday night’s 75-51 road loss to No. 1 Connecticut, the Syracuse women’s basketball team trudged into Manley Field House yesterday for practice. Without a moment to spare because of a three-game losing streak, the Orangewomen wearily began practice at 9:30 a.m.

Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman called for the harsh schedule to prepare SU for its game at Georgetown in McDonough Arena tomorrow at 2 p.m.

The Hoyas are also skidding, having gone 2-6 in their last eight games to drop them to ninth place in the Big East.

Unlike Georgetown, 11th-place Syracuse is in danger of missing the Big East tournament, for which the bottom two teams fail to qualify. The Orangewomen hold a game-and-a-half lead over 13th-place St. John’s and a half-game lead over 12th-place Pittsburgh.

Tomorrow afternoon’s contest begins a four-game stretch in which SU opponents have a combined conference record of 10-30, giving Syracuse an opportunity to secure a postseason bid.

Syracuse’s first meeting with Georgetown ended in an 82-75 overtime loss Jan. 15. Shannon Perry hit a put-back with 10 seconds remaining to force overtime, but an 11-2 GU run ended the game.

Then, the Orangewomen said they still held NCAA tournament aspirations. Now, SU must overcome the poor play that has produced a 20-point average margin of defeat the last three games.

‘We haven’t been shooting the ball really well lately,’ Freeman said. ‘Hopefully, we can get a little bit of a touch back.’

Indeed, SU shot 27.6 percent against UConn and 32 percent in its previous game, a 71-44 loss to Villanova on Feb. 8.

But shooting improved in the second half against the Huskies, as SU shot 8 of 13 from 3-point range.

‘Shooting is probably the most inconsistent part of basketball,’ Freeman said. ‘I would’ve liked to have seen us come out in that first half like we did in the second half, because we played really gutsy.’

Maja Omanovic in particular. The 6-foot-4 Syracuse center took a charge midway through the second half against Connecticut and needed assistance off the court. As she walked off, Omanovic couldn’t put pressure on her left knee.

She showed up to practice yesterday on crutches, and X-rays were scheduled for last night. Freeman’s not sure whether Omanovic will play but said Omanovic was not in pain.

The injury comes as a big blow for Omanovic, who played 12 minutes against the Huskies. That marked her most significant playing time since she started and played 15 minutes in a 79-76 loss at Harvard on Nov. 22.

‘She was playing very well for us,’ Freeman said. ‘I don’t know when I’m going to use anybody. I don’t plan like that. It’s just a feeling I have on who is ready to go or play that game. The swelling has to go down, but hopefully it won’t slow her down for too long.’

Syracuse has also experimented with different defenses of late. The Orangewomen employed a 3-2 zone against Villanova and Connecticut with varying success.

‘We played them to a very close ballgame the last time we played them,’ Freeman said. ‘We didn’t play very well against BC or Villanova, so we have to go in there and play the same way we did last time against Georgetown. If we do that, I think we’ll be all right.’

Published on February 12, 2003 at 12:00 pm