Alexis Peterson had hit the game-winning shot. But it wasn’t for her team.

With the game tied 10-10, Peterson — then a third-grader — could only hear the crowd yelling for her to shoot the ball. So she did. And then she celebrated.

But that was before she realized that her shot, in the wrong hoop, had given her opponents a win. She was crushed. Her family, teammates and teammates’ parents all consoled her. They told her that they could understand why she was confused. But to Peterson, it didn’t matter.

“At that moment, I knew that I hated losing,” Peterson said. “I knew that I would be that type of player for the rest of my life. That I would do whatever it took to win, because I hated the feeling of losing.”

Now a sophomore point guard for Syracuse, she’s taken charge of a program that is only just beginning to taste the benefits of consistent winning. Her 15 points per game lead No. 23 SU (20-8, 10-5), as do her 4.4 assists per game, 32.8 minutes per game and her 66 total steals.

At this time last year, Peterson said she became fatigued. A season later, she’s playing her best basketball just weeks away from what will likely be Syracuse’s third NCAA Tournament appearance in as many seasons.

After seeing limited — though productive — minutes for Syracuse as a freshman last season, she’s taken over a point guard role that was highly contested coming into the season, and become one of the best in the conference.

“It’s just about her adjusting to women’s basketball at this level,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “I never really had a doubt that she would break out and have this kind of year with the minutes increase. She’s doing a tremendous job. Obviously, we understand what she means to our team.”

For Peterson, there was an adjustment from being a 2,100-point Northland (Ohio) High School star to a Division I reserve. It was an adjustment mentally, not being the top player anymore, and physically, dealing with the fatigue of a day-to-day schedule that revolves around basketball.

Hillsman said last season that Peterson was the most hyped and talked about player he’d ever seen proportional to the 12.3 minutes per game that she played.

But Peterson said it was hard for her to see what other people saw in herself. When she got home in the summer, she worked on her balance, shot and ball-handling. She developed her explosiveness and ability to change up speeds. She improved her ability to attack and finish with contact.

“I trained harder than ever,” Peterson said. “I stayed in the gym; I lived in the gym.”

Peterson said one of the reasons Syracuse was a draw for her was an opportunity to continue the style of play that she thrived in. Peterson has been prominent this season at the top of Syracuse’s zone and its full-court press. There has been only one game this season where she hasn’t recorded a steal.

In Syracuse’s 73-62 win over Wake Forest on Jan. 15, she scored a career-high 32 points. After floating in an and-one with 59 seconds left, she fell to the ground and shouted while pounding her palms on the court.

Off the court, her personality doesn’t match. She’s quiet, soft-spoken and speaks in basketball clichés. Regardless, she’s developed into a guard that Hillsman says is up there with the best.

“She’s just very aggressive and knows she’s a very capable scorer,” SU forward Taylor Ford said. “She never doesn’t think she’s not going to score so I think that helps her, being so aggressive.”

Last season, Hillsman said he didn’t dictate who got playing time. Performance dictated playing time. And as a result, Peterson was behind Rachel Coffey and Cornelia Fondren. When she entered this season, there was still Fondren — in addition to players like Maggie Morrison, Diamond Henderson and Danielle Minott to compete for minutes with.

This year, teams are game-planning for her, Hillsman said, noting the different pick-and-roll coverages. This year, she’s scored at least 10 points in all but five of the Orange’s games. This year, she’s the one who’s dictating playing time.

“Honestly, coming in, I didn’t expect to have this role,” Peterson said. “I can just say I’m blessed and very fortunate and very grateful for how this season has turned thus far. I just want to continue to build on it.”

Published on February 24, 2015 at 12:30 am

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3