Vaida Sipaviciute is the signature player for Syracuse and was the lone All-Big East selection from the Orange last year. On Sunday, Syracuse found its most success when it kept the ball away from its star player.

But SU still lost to South Florida, 78-61, in front of 1,934 at the Carrier Dome Sunday night.

The Orange made two big runs in the game and Sipaviciute was not the leading scorer during either stretch. Four different players combined for the first 14 points as Syracuse opened up a one point lead. Trailing by 15 early in the second half, SU jumped to a 12-0 run to draw within three points of the Bulls. Sipaviciute scored just five points in the two stretches combined.

‘Everybody needs to put something in, whether it’s a rebound, a steal or an assist,’ SU sophomore guard Cintia Johnson said. ‘We just can’t bank our game on the same people all the time.’

In one final gasp, SU went on a 7-0 run without a single point from Sipaviciute to claw within 11 points of the Bulls. The run infused some energy into the team but it was too late to really matter.

‘Every time we made a run they made a bigger run,’ head coach Quentin Hillsman said.

Sipaviciute did have an impressive game on the stat sheet. She scored 18 points and added seven rebounds, but could not carry the team past the deeper South Florida team. The Bulls enjoyed a serious advantage off the bench, outscoring SU 18-0.

Sipaviciute had a stretch where she became her team’s only offensive weapon, but this was when South Florida opened up a lead it would not relinquish. Over the last 9:42 in the half, Sipaviciute scored 10 of the team’s last 12 points while the Orange was outscored 23-12 heading into the locker room.

In the final minutes of the first half, the offense was set up to go directly through Sipaviciute on almost every play. Players moved out of the key to allow their center to post up her defender away from traffic.

‘I was happy that I was scoring, but I was not happy to be behind,’ Sipaviciute said of the end of the half. ‘I just tell them to keep their heads up.’

For most of the game Sipaviciute was outplayed by her USF counterpart, Nalini Miller. Miller blocked six shots and racked up 15 rebounds, overpowering Sipaviciute at times. She even forced Sipaviciute to struggle on the other end as Miller took advantage of her athleticism and scored 23 points.

‘We tried to box her out,’ Sipaviciute said of Miller. ‘But she just out-jumped us. I guess she was just more athletic.’

Hillsman knew Miller well after coaching the senior in high school. He said he was not surprised by her success because he knew how special a player Miller was.

‘Nalini Miller had a monster game,’ Hillsman said. ‘I knew in my heart if she had a big game we would be in trouble.’

The shorter Miller played a more powerful game than Sipaviciute and forced her opponent to play a different style than she has been used to. Sipaviciute spent long stretches outside the paint in the second half, shooting three 3-pointers and trying to use her quickness to drive past the defender.

Hillsman said he saw Miller playing physically against opponents in game film and thought the Orange could use her aggressiveness against her. He thought if SU could draw to the outside, Miller would spend much of the game sitting on the bench.

‘I knew that if we got her away from the basket and let Vaida attack the basket we could get her in foul trouble,’ Hillsman said.

Hillsman had to focus on the Bulls’ All-American forward Jessica Dickson when making the gameplan, but recognized that a player like Miller could be a difference maker.

‘That was our gameplan,’ Hillsman said of stopping Dickson. ‘We wanted someone else to beat us and Nalini Miller beat us.’

Published on January 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm