A single mistake cost Syracuse the game against St. John’s Wednesday. And much to the dismay of Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman, Erica Morrow was the scapegoat.

After a game where Morrow almost exclusively handled the ball down the stretch versus the St. John’s full-court press, the junior guard committed a critical turnover with 11 seconds left. It was only one gaffe following a solid game of handling the point for the junior shooting guard.

But it was one mishap too many. And Hillsman knows it.

‘I mean, you guys have to write the facts, and the fact is she turned the ball over the last possession and it is what it is,’ Hillsman said following the game. ‘And she doesn’t deserve that. She is a tough kid, and without her at Syracuse University, I don’t eat right now. I don’t have a job right now. So I feel really bad for her because I know how hard she competes, and I know how hard she wants to do it for me.’

Following Morrow’s turnover with SU ahead, 65-64, St. John’s freshman Shenneika Smith scooped up the ball and was fouled with five seconds left. Smith drained the two free throws to give St. John’s the 66-65 lead. On the subsequent possession, the Orange (16-4, 3-4 Big East) heaved the ball deep to Juanita Ward, but McKenith stripped the ball yet again. The Red Storm (17-3, 5-2 Big East) retained possession and held on for the 68-65 win.

Hillsman did not make Morrow available to the media following Wednesday’s game.

‘It’s nothing against you guys. I don’t want to have her answer any questions there is no good answer for. She tried to make a play. She caught a ball screen, she went off of the ball screen, they (St. John’s) hit the gap and they got a steal. And that’s my defense for her. She did what I asked her to do.’

For the majority of the second half, Hillsman entrusted Morrow, normally SU’s shooting guard, to control the ball against St. John’s full-court defense. After a first half where Morrow turned the ball over three times, the junior settled in against the Red Storm pressure.

She turned the ball over only once the entire second half prior to the fateful steal at the end of the game, while tallying five assists in the same time period. The junior routinely brought the ball over half court unfazed, until that one attempted ball screen with 11 seconds to go.

Prior to the drama at the end of the game, Syracuse fought back to take a five-point lead with 2:22 remaining. Following a 14-4 Red Storm run that gave St. John’s a nine-point lead with 10:51 left in the second half, SU went on a 22-8 run of its own to take command of the game.

Morrow and Nicole Michael, who led the Orange on the night with 22 points, willed Syracuse back into the game against the Red Storm press. It was a stretch highlighted by many plays, including one from none other than Morrow — a steal with 3:50 remaining where the 5-foot-8 guard viciously ripped the ball from much taller players. It was a snapshot that defined the Orange’s comeback.

‘Everyone just picked it up,’ Michael said. ‘Everyone got confident, and we played not to lose, so we just played hard.’

But the steal with just under four minutes left won’t be remembered. The turnover with 11 seconds left will.

Hillsman knows that grim reality hurts for Morrow. If faced with the same situation again, though, he wouldn’t change a thing. He would still have Morrow dribble east to west against the St. John’s defense in search of the ball screen.

Quite simply because he trusts her. He trusted her in the second half, and he will continue to trust her in the future. Even if it didn’t turn out the way he’d hoped Wednesday.

‘What I thought (of Morrow’s play in the second half) was she was the best player I ever recruited,’ Hillsman said. ‘She is the best player I have on the team. …We are going to do it again next game, and we are going to do it all of the rest of this year. And we are going to do it next year, too.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on January 27, 2010 at 12:00 pm