Cintia Johnson doesn’t strike fear into opponents with her jump shot. She usually has at least an arm’s length of distance between her and the defender as she sets up the offense at the top of the key.

With the men’s basketball team’s lead against DePaul starting to slip away from Syracuse on Saturday, Johnson was still running around the court trying to keep the team in the game. As a pass sailed to Pirates forward Monique Blake, 5-foot-4 Johnson raced over and tore the ball away from the 6-foot tall player.

It wasn’t enough to keep SU from losing its sixth straight game, 69-59, but it showed how Johnson can help the team without being a primary scoring weapon.

Freshman Nicole Michael was the star of the game for the Orange with 29 points and six rebounds. Johnson’s four points pale in comparison, but her team-high eight steals and seven assists do not.

‘I felt like my game was OK,’ Johnson said. ‘I felt like I missed a couple chippies but I felt like I did a good job distributing the ball to my teammates.’

The smallest player on the court, Johnson showed her ferocity by diving to the floor several times to chase after loose balls. She forced three held balls by trying to wrestle the ball away from Pirate players.

‘She brings it every game so I have no problems with Cintia,’ Hillsman said. ‘I think she’s doing the best she can every night.’

Though she is playing against players that can be as much as one foot taller than her, Johnson said she does not think she has to be aggressive simply because of her size. She said she just wants to give the effort so the team can win.

‘I don’t have to make up for anything,’ Johnson said. ‘Those are the things we have to do to win.’

Johnson’s eight steals accounted for more than one-third of Seton Hall’s 23 turnovers. The aggressive defense led to offense on the other end, with 18 of the Orange’s 59 points coming off those turnovers.

But while Johnson and the rest of the team were racking up takeaways, they were also giving the ball right back to Seton Hall. SU turned the ball over 24 times, with three players totaling at least five giveaways, including Johnson.

Hillsman said the high number of turnovers is inevitable with the offense the Orange tries to play.

‘It’s frustrating because we stress it,’ Hillsman said of the turnovers. ‘But things like that are going to happen when you’re playing aggressive and attacking the basket, but 24 turnovers is just way too many.’

Johnson said the solution to the turnover problem is not that complicated. She said if the team works on the basics, the amount of giveaways will go down.

‘We just need to watch our passes and try not to force it,’ she said.

Even with her five turnovers, Hillsman said he was pleased with the way his point guard played. He said she gives full effort every game and is working on the aspects of her game that need improvement.

‘I’m not going to give up on her,’ Hillsman said. ‘She’s a soldier and she plays hard.’

Published on February 3, 2007 at 12:00 pm