Those who expected the new season to start sometime next November may be surprised.

No need to wait until next fall — the Syracuse women’s basketball team begins its new season this weekend. SU faces Miami in the first round of the Big East tournament at 6 Saturday night in Piscataway, N.J.

‘The Big East tournament, it’s like a new year,’ guard Shannon Perry said. ‘I feel great. We’re ready for it.’

‘I feel pretty confident,’ center Awa Diop said. ‘It’s just a new season we’re starting. We’re ready. They’ll be aware of us.’

Head coach Marianna Freeman couldn’t resist from spewing the customary clichs, either.

‘We’re going into the Big East tournament 0-0, an entirely new season,’ Freeman said. ‘And we’re gonna take it one game at a time.’

One-liners aside, SU knows the Hurricanes inside and out.

Syracuse faced Miami twice this season, with each team winning once. The Hurricanes trounced the Orangewomen at Manley Field House, 85-68, on Jan. 8. Syracuse committed a season-high 30 turnovers, leading to 43 Miami points.

The Orangewomen — or, more accurately, point guard Julie McBride — rallied from a late nine-point deficit Jan. 25 to win, 62-59. McBride scored SU’s final seven points, including the game-winning layup with 19 seconds left.

The rubber match will decide which team advances in the conference tournament. As a single-elimination tournament, a loss would ensure SU’s shortest “season” ever.

‘We can’t forget about the season,’ McBride said. ‘But for the time being, for the moment we have to forget about what happened this season and concentrate on Miami. We’re in a great spot. We have nothing to lose.’

Last year, the No. 7-seeded Orangewomen defeated West Virginia, 80-60, in the first round and Notre Dame, 84-79, in the quarterfinals. Boston College ended SU’s run, beating the Orangewomen, 67-48, in the semifinals.

‘We’re hoping to be there, just like we were last year, for more days than anyone else anticipates us being there,’ Freeman said.

The Orangewomen are catching the Hurricanes at an ideal time. Since losing to SU earlier this year, Miami has gone 4-6.

Although SU’s second-round opponent would be Rutgers, McBride is pleased the tournament is being held at the Louis Brown Athletic Complex — Rutgers’ home arena.

‘I like playing at Rutgers,’ McBride said. ‘I know it’s a great place to play at. It’s a great shooting gym.’

The Orangewomen have insisted all year that, despite their poor regular-season play, they would be heard in the Big East tournament.

Then again, they also insisted they needed to win nine of their final 10 games. Instead, SU finished 4-6.

McBride thinks the nail-biters SU has endured — tough overtime losses to Colorado on Dec. 31 (78-75) and West Virginia on Feb. 26 (77-74) — should prepare it for a postseason atmosphere.

‘We’re just gonna go down there and play,’ McBride said. ‘The tough games that we’ve lost in overtime this year, it’s gonna help us. It has to. If we weren’t excited to go, we wouldn’t go.’

Published on March 5, 2003 at 12:00 pm