Frustration, irritation and annoyance all surfaced at once for Darren Bennett. Julie McBride’s foul with 2.2 seconds left Saturday prompted the Syracuse women’s basketball assistant coach to drop his clipboard, bury his head in his hands and stare at the floor in disgust.

The game was just that sickening for Syracuse, which lost to No. 22 Villanova, 71-44, at Manley Field House.

‘The game was not pretty,’ Syracuse head coach Marianna Freeman said. ‘I don’t think any of the coaches will say that it was.’

The Wildcats used a barrage of 3-point shots to overwhelm the Orangewomen. Villanova (17-4, 7-3 Big East) failed to connect on a 2-point bucket the entire first half. Not until a Courtney Mix layup with 10:05 left in the game did Villanova tally its first 2-pointer.

‘Well,’ Villanova head coach Harry Perretta said, ‘I didn’t think we’d get no 2-point field goals in the first half. I didn’t think we would get a lot of 2-point field goals. But if you look at our team, we don’t have anyone who scores inside. If you don’t score inside, you better be able to score somewhere else.’

Like behind the arc, where Villanova shot 16 of 35 (45.7 percent), including 9 of 16 in the second half.

Anticipating Villanova’s sharp shooting, Freeman employed a 3-2 zone, 2-3 zone and man-to-man defense throughout the game. Although it confused the Wildcats at first, each defensive scheme eventually broke down.

‘First half, we were getting decent shots, but rushed,’ Perretta said. ‘Second half, I thought we moved the ball a little quicker. Second half was probably the best we’ve shot all season.’

The Wildcats’ first-half shooting woes mirrored those of Syracuse (8-13, 3-7). The Orangewomen failed to connect on a shot for the first seven minutes of the game, shooting 0 for 9 in that span. Given the offensive drought, just a 23-18 Villanova halftime advantage was surprising.

The Syracuse defense grew sluggish in the second half. With three SU starters playing 20 first-half minutes, Villanova’s skip passes became harder to defend, leaving shooters open longer.

‘You saw the first half where we are shooting the ball poorly,’ said Perretta, whose team shot 23.3 percent in the first half. ‘We missed 17 of 18 shots at one point, and then in the second half, you saw us making 9 of 16 (3-pointers). We got the same shots, just not with a hand in our face.’

Villanova opened the second half with a 23-10 run — capped by four consecutive 3-pointers from Katie Davis — to take an 18-point lead. The Wildcats outscored the Orangewomen, 25-16, the rest of the way.

‘We were playing man, and they were knocking down every 3-pointer that they took,’ SU point guard Julie McBride said.

Villanova is the second consecutive team to shoot the Orangewomen out of their traditional 2-3 zone. Boston College forced SU to switch to a man-to-man defense, shooting 51.9 percent — including 7 of 12 from 3-point range — in its 82-63 victory Feb. 1.

Meanwhile, Syracuse has shot poorly. On Saturday, McBride shot 3 of 14 for 12 points, including 0 of 6 in the first half. Shooting guard Shannon Perry, who scored 12 to lead Syracuse, shot 5 of 9. Perry was the only Orangewoman to shoot more than 50 percent.

‘We had to make it a non-pretty basketball game, so that we could be in it,’ Freeman said. ‘It would have helped if we hit a few more shots than what we were able to hit. Not taking anything away from Villanova, I’m a very honest person, and they were just a better team than us.’

Published on February 9, 2003 at 12:00 pm