HARTFORD, Conn. — With 11.1 seconds remaining, Syracuse’s senior leader and point guard Erica Morrow had the ball in her hands with her team down two. But the second-leading scorer in program history and a four-year starter for the Orange made a mistake.

Her pass from the top of the key to Elashier Hall along the left sideline was tipped by Georgetown’s Sugar Rodgers and grazed Hall on the way out of bounds. The Hoyas took over possession and held on for the win.

‘The disappointment comes from being the senior guard,’ Morrow said. ‘I’m the point guard, I’m supposed to know better, and I’m supposed to make the right decision.’

In reality, though, Morrow wasn’t the only one who made poor decisions for SU (22-9). The Orange turned the ball over nine times in the final 15 minutes of Saturday’s second-round Big East tournament game, and Georgetown (22-9) battled back for a 61-60 victory at the XL Center. Syracuse watched an 11-point lead evaporate and the game come to a frustrating end after it dominated for the majority of the 40 minutes.

The game’s opening moments saw Georgetown stun the Orange by scoring 14 of the first 16 points. But Syracuse responded with one of its best offensive stretches of the season.

SU went on a 16-0 run to take an 18-14 lead by the 6:35 mark of the first half. Six different players scored for the Orange during that run. The offense flowed effortlessly with two 3-pointers, four free throws and several opportunities for Kayla Alexander and Shakeya Leary on the low block.

‘I thought we had a good scheme and really took our time getting ready for this game,’ SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘I thought that our players did an excellent job of playing to our strengths.’

Fueled by that run, Syracuse took a 27-22 lead into halftime. But even the brief respite didn’t slow the Orange attack.

Out of the break, SU scored on six of its first eight possessions and extended the lead to its peak of 11 with 14:58 to go. Hall hit three 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the second half, prompting Hillsman to beat his chest on the sideline after two of them.

It seemed as if the Orange couldn’t be stopped.

‘I think that they have good shooters, but I think that they’re streaky shooters,’ Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. ‘And unfortunately when you let a streaky shooter go off, then they get the confidence in them. … We knew we had to contain Hemingway in the high post. But once they started hitting some shots, we had to make some adjustments.’

And the adjustment Williams-Flournoy made ultimately doomed the Orange. All game long, SU’s trio of guards — Morrow, Hall and Tasha Harris — had exploited the Hoyas’ full-court press with diagonal, cross-court passes to get over the halfway line. These were followed by quick passes out to the sidelines once the team was settled in its half-court offense.

But as the second half progressed, the wing players of Georgetown’s 1-2-2 zone started to pick up on the pattern. The cross-court passes weren’t there as often, and the wing players of the Hoyas pounced on any attempts to the sides of the court.

With 3:58 to go, Morrow made the exact same mistake as she did late in the game. Her pass from the top of the key was intended for Hall on the left sideline, but Rodgers got her hand in the passing lane. She coasted the other way and was fouled by Morrow.

A pair of free throws gave Georgetown its first lead since the score was 14-11 in the first half.

‘We just had to get defensive stops,’ Rodgers said. ‘Defense is what got us back in the game, not our offense, really.’

The Hoyas finished the game with 12 steals and converted 19 Orange turnovers into 28 points at the other end of the floor. They limited Syracuse to four field goals in the final 15 minutes of play.

The free throws from Rodgers put Georgetown up 54-53, and it never gave up the lead again. Though the Hoyas trailed and were outplayed for a stretch of 23:13 in the middle of Saturday’s game, they found a way to lead when it mattered most.

‘I never thought we were out of that basketball game,’ Hillsman said. ‘We had an opportunity to make plays. We just didn’t make the play.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on March 4, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13