HARTFORD, Conn. — It wasn’t Troya Berry’s fault. The sophomore forward had only played double-digit minutes twice this season prior to Sunday’s 77-41 loss to Connecticut.

But still, Berry was called on to combat reality. As she entered the game for her first minutes of the 2010 Big East tournament with 2:44 left in the first half, she was greeted by the Big East Player of the Year, Tina Charles.

Berry’s first 60 seconds of action against Charles was a nightmare. Two seconds after entering the game, Berry was called for traveling. Twenty-four seconds later, she committed a foul. And exactly one minute after entering the game, she had her shot emphatically blocked by Charles.

But still, it’s hard to truly put the blame on Berry, or Kayla Alexander and Vionca Murray — the other SU frontcourt players who tried to contain Charles Sunday. Nothing was going to stop the Connecticut senior inside.

‘Well, it’s difficult because she is such a great player,’ SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘And once she gets deep post position, she is definitely hard to guard.’

In the quarterfinal round of the Big East tournament here at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn., Sunday, Charles had her way with the Syracuse frontcourt. Minutes after receiving her conference Player of the Year trophy, Charles overpowered SU en route to 34 points on 16-19 shooting in 28 minutes of play. The 34 points tied her career-high and her 16 field goals set a tournament record for most field goals in a single game.

For the entirety of those 28 minutes, the 6-foot-4 center ate up any and every SU big that was matched against her. Syracuse senior Vionca Murray started the game and gave up four points, three rebounds, a block and an assist to Charles before the first media timeout of the game.

After the timeout, Alexander came in for the first time to match up against her fellow 6-foot-4 center. But it was immediately apparent that Alexander wouldn’t fare any better. The lanky freshman was unable to gain any kind of post position against the UConn center.

The mismatch was established.

‘We were just trying to get Kayla some good experience against (Charles) because eventually we will need Kayla to be that dominant,’ Hillsman said.

From the outset, Charles helped to take away SU’s normal strength in the rebounding department. After every Huskie shot went up, Charles soaked up several SU bodies via boxouts. It afforded teammates such as Moore (14 rebounds) and Kalana Greene (seven rebounds) the opportunity to grab boards.

‘I think everybody was just anxious to play,’ Charles said. ‘We had patience, and just waiting for everything, we had great intensity and great energy.

Prior to Berry’s substitution into the game, Charles dismantled Syracuse. By that point she tallied 18 points and 3 blocks.

Then came Berry.

‘I think that is always the game plan, to give Tina the ball as much as possible,’ Moore said. ‘And she came through for us tonight.’

It was a special night fitting for the conference’s best player. It was a night that reminded Syracuse just how good of a player Charles is after the center scored only two points in the Orange’s previous game against the Huskies this season — a 87-66 loss at the Carrier Dome on Feb. 24.

After a performance like Charles’ Sunday, Berry and Alexander will have to keep in mind that Charles is the best. That is exactly what they went up against.

Any thought of stopping Charles just miles from the Connecticut campus would have been a prayer. Just like the half-court heave Berry attempted at the end of the game. That shot ultimately rimmed out. And both that shot and the thought of stopping Charles had roughly the same chance of succeeding for the Orange.

That’s just reality when you play the best.

Said Hillsman: ‘There aren’t too many chances you are going to get to compete against such a great team and such a great player.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on March 7, 2010 at 12:00 pm