Erica Morrow has been playing basketball with Iasia Hemingway since she was about 11 years old.

Hemingway, a senior forward, sat out Syracuse’s 2009-10 campaign after transferring from Georgia Tech. But last season, Morrow, now an SU graduate assistant, got the chance to play alongside one of the players she grew up with.

She noticed several areas that Hemingway had improved upon, but more importantly, she noticed the opportunity for something great between the frontcourt partnership of Hemingway and starting center Kayla Alexander.

 ‘She’s always been tough to guard,’ Morrow said of Hemingway during Syracuse’s annual media day on Oct. 14. ‘Now she’s developing her jump shot and she’s developing that great midrange game, and it’s making it a lot tougher on teams, and it’s also making it easier on Kayla.

‘Kayla is unstoppable down low, she’s definitely a force. The two of them together poses a lot of mismatches on other teams.’

And after the loss of its two starting guards in Tasha Harris and Morrow, Hemingway and Alexander will be asked to shoulder the brunt of the scoring load while the new roles on the court are figured out. The frontcourt duo has already proven capable in its first full season together in the starting lineup.

Alexander, a Preseason All-Big East selection this season, was the team’s leading scorer a year ago, averaging 14.8 points per game. Hemingway was the team’s leading rebounder, grabbing 7.4 per game last year, while setting the tone as the team’s second-best scoring option.

Although there is added pressure with the loss of two veteran players, Hemingway is confident in the players who will receive increased playing time. Although it may seem that she and Alexander are the team’s top threats following last season’s performance, nothing is concrete until the first game is played.

‘I think when the season starts, it’s going to wear down on us,’ Hemingway said on media day, ‘and they’re going to be so worried about our shooting guards, they’re going to be like, ‘Oh, forget about Iasia and Kayla,’ because I feel like our outside shooting guards are really strong. We’re going to do what we have to do.’

The pair’s two seasons working together in practice and one year together in games has instilled a level of confidence at the forward and center positions. They each have been able to take note of the other’s tendencies, such as where to locate a pass in Syracuse’s high-low offense.

Hemingway provides SU with a scoring threat that often times leaves opposing defenses weary of double-teaming Alexander.

‘Iasia is a godsend because if you have her on the court, you can always get her the ball,’ Alexander said on media day. ‘If she has the ball in her hands she’s going to score, or she’s going to be shooting free throws,’ Alexander said. ‘Having Iasia on the court makes life so much easier.’

The importance of SU’s dynamic frontcourt presence showed itself during the team’s run in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament last season. Hemingway averaged a double-double in the three games before the Orange’s quarterfinal overtime loss to Toledo. In those games, Hemingway scored 19.3 points and pulled down 11.7 rebounds. Alexander scored 18 points per game while grabbing just under six rebounds per contest.

But in the team’s elimination game, Morrow took over the scoring responsibilities. Hemingway was 0-of-6 shooting, adding only five points on free throws. Her frontcourt teammate, Alexander, scored 17 and added eight boards, but the Orange still fell by three points to the Rockets.

One incomplete game in the frontcourt was all it took for Syracuse to be bounced.

‘We’ve built a nice bond,’ Hemingway said during media day. ‘And hopefully we continue what we did at the end of the year, we continue it next year, and hopefully we do it a lot better. Honestly, I think we will do it a lot better.’

adtredin@syr.edu

Published on October 31, 2011 at 12:00 pm