Although he jokingly calls the current climate in Syracuse ‘barbecue weather,’ Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Quentin Hillsman doesn’t mind leaving town for South Bend, Ind. After all, Syracuse and the Carrier Dome have almost become a house of nightmares for his squad.

The Orange has lost six straight contests at home, including Sunday night’s 73-72 loss to Georgetown, a game that may have been the final nail in the coffin for SU’s NCAA Tournament hopes. So even though the Orange will face a stout team in No. 23 Notre Dame, the change of scenery might do SU well.

‘It’s good to get on the road right away. You don’t have a whole lot of time to sulk on this one,’ Hillsman said. ‘It was big loss. It was very big. That loss kind of keeps you in 12th, 13th place and could have put you as high as eighth so that (could’ve been) a big win for us. But obviously we have a few more left. We have to go out and take care of these and get back on track.’

With the NCAA Tournament seeming more distant by the day, Syracuse will have to try and rebound against the Irish tonight at 7 p.m. in South Bend. SU (15-11, 4-9 Big East) will try to bounce back from the devastating loss against Georgetown and try and use some of its recent luck in road games to upset its second ranked opponent this season. The Orange beat then-No. 17 Rutgers on Jan. 6.

Going into Sunday night’s game against the Hoyas, Syracuse was 2-1 in games decided by one point. With a win, the Orange could have put itself in position to make a run for a top 10 seed in the Big East. But when Nicole Michael was called for traveling with less than five seconds remaining, SU was sent to yet another loss.

With only three conference games remaining, the Orange finds itself in a dire situation. If the team loses any of its remaining games, the Orange cannot be seeded higher than ninth in the Big East tournament, which automatically ensures having to play in the tournament’s opening round.

This leaves no time for the Orange to sulk or reminisce about what could have been against the Hoyas. The squad will have to get right back into the fire.

‘We have to overcome that and get over that,’ SU junior forward Nicole Michael said. ‘This team wants to win and the emotions on this team when we don’t win are incredible. I mean, we’re hurt by it and like coach said, my freshman year we would have been like, OK let’s go to next game and just play. But now, everybody just wants to win.’

The Orange’s success in Big East road games could be a stepping stone for a strong performance against the Fighting Irish (18-7, 7-6). Syracuse is 3-3 in conference road games this season, compared to its 1-6 record at home.

Hillsman has always talked about how hard it is to win road games in the Big East, but his team has been able to steal games this season. The Orange escaped both Cincinnati and St. John’s with one-point victories.

Though Hillsman has no explanation for the stark contrast in his team’s play between home and road games, he said his team is getting used to playing in various environments. Sophomore guard Tasha Harris said it may be because the squad is maturing.

‘I don’t’ think there’s a different confidence or swagger form last year because we were pretty good last year (on the road),’ Harris said. ‘We’re just winning more games last year and I think it’s a little more maturity, where it might have been different for some of us last year, and I think we did a better job this year.’

That maturity will be put to the test against the Fighting Irish, who beat the Orange in the Dome last season and have won 21 of 23 contests in the series.

Throw in trying to come back from the tough loss to Georgetown, and SU is in a tough position.

‘I’m totally confident in my team,’ SU guard Erica Morrow said. ‘We gotta bunch of great girls, a bunch of tough physically and mentally girls that will get back in there.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm