It was vintage Nicole Michael.

On Syracuse’s first possession of the second half against Villanova Saturday, the junior forward dribbled to her left toward the basket, beat the defender, and was fouled in the process. She made the subsequent free throws.

Unfortunately for the Orange, the free throws were Michael’s first points of the game – and accumulated one-third of her point total for the day.

In the absence of Erica Morrow, who missed the game with a chest contusion, Michael and senior forward Chandrea Jones had one of their worst games of the season, as the Orange fell to the Wildcats, 69-51. Michael and Jones combined for 16 points on 4-of-20 shooting.

‘We just weren’t making shots,’ Michael said. ‘Erica (Morrow) is a great factor in our offense. We weren’t making shots, so that’s not going to be good.’

The Orange relies heavily on its trio of Michael, Jones and Morrow. Coming into the game, the three averaged 46.7 points per contest, with Michael and Jones combining for 29.8 points.

Without Morrow, who was injured during SU’s win over Marquette on Jan. 27, the impetus fell on Michael and Jones to keep Syracuse’s offense running. Michael had eight straight double-digit-point games coming into the contest, and Jones had averaged 20 points in her last three contests.

SU head coach Quentin Hillsman hoped he could match Morrow’s production (16.9 points) with his reserves, which he was able to do through spot-starter Marisa Gobuty’s seven points and Lina Lisnere’s season-high eight points. But Michael and Jones didn’t give the production the Orange needed.

‘You talk about (Jones) and (Michael), they were 4-for-20,’ Hillsman said. ‘And you got two players, that’s 4-for-20 and Erica’s out, you’re going to have a problem.’

In the first half, Jones hit a 20-foot shot with 16:17 left for her first points of the game. But she would miss her next four shots and Michael would miss both of hers, as the Orange trailed by 12 at the half.

Meanwhile, Gobuty scored all seven of her points in the first, including a 3-pointer and a well-executed pull-up jumper. Hillsman said Gobuty’s emergence should have helped his two forwards, but it seemed to do the opposite, as they almost were invisible offensively.

‘We ran through the same things (we do with Erica) through Missy early, and it was very effective,’ Hillsman said. ‘Once she started being effective, and they started recognizing her as this is not somebody we can’t respect on the floor, that’s when we needed Chandrea and (Michael) to step up and do what they’ve been doing all season, just hit their average.’

But the duo didn’t. While they improved their point production in the second half by scoring 13 points, the forwards just could not find an offensive groove. Michael said she had shots, but she just wasn’t making them.

In one particular stretch, the Orange’s offensive went 13:46 without scoring a field goal,

as Villanova ballooned its lead to as much as 25. In that time, Michael and Jones missed seven combined shots, most of them within short-range of the basket.

When Michael missed one shot with 7:15 left and the Orange trailing by 25 points, Hillsman screamed from the sideline, ‘Go the basket, Slinky!’ Of the duo’s 13 second-half points, seven came from free throws.

Villanova head coach Harry Perretta said after the game that without Morrow, his squad was able to do some different things defensively, which helped contain Michael and Jones.

‘We can help more,’ Perretta said. ‘(Erica’s) good at everything, taking the ball to the hoop, she’s a good defender, so with her not playing it’s a big loss for them. And what we were able to do is help a little bit, cheat off somebody. We would not be able to cheat off if she was playing.’

While Michael and Jones were not effective on this day, the two other starters did not contribute as well. Tasha Harris did not score, and center Vionca Murray had one point.

The Orange ended up being held 20 points below its season average by the best defensive team in the Big East. Hillsman said he hopes Morrow is well for Saturday, but she’s day-to-day.

Judging by Michael’s performance, it’s no shock she wants to see Morrow suited up for Tuesday’s night game against No. 6 Louisville as well.

‘She was a great player on the court, so she was a big loss,’ Michael said. ‘But I feel like (if) me and Chan got our average, we would have been fine. But she’s a great factor and we definitely needed her points today, but we have to move on.’

mrehalt@syr.edu

Published on February 1, 2009 at 12:00 pm