Over the first 12 games of the 2009-10 season, the Syracuse women’s basketball team did not have a problem stringing wins together. After the best start in program history (12-0) and an undefeated out-of-conference slate (13-0), SU appeared to be a lock for the NCAA Tournament.

During those dozen games, the Orange easily handled every team it faced, defeating every opponent by at least eight points. But not one of those games came against a team from a major conference. Every team was a mid-major. Competition comparable to the top half of the Big East conference simply wasn’t there.

According to RealTimeRPI.com, Syracuse currently ranks dead last in the Big East in strength of schedule. The Orange’s ranking is 154, more than double that of any other Big East team. Of the 13 teams on its non-conference slate, Syracuse faced 10 schools with an RPI of 200 or worse – five have an RPI of 300 or worse.

And since the conclusion of its soft non-conference schedule, SU has failed to put together any semblance of a winning streak. The Orange (18-6) now stands at 5-6 in the Big East, only once winning back-to-back Big East games since the end of its non-conference schedule.

And for the players, despite having already secured themselves a winning season, they recognize the most important thing about the final stretch of the season.

‘To put wins together. To win basketball games,’ junior guard Erica Morrow said at practice Thursday. ‘No matter how you do it, just to win basketball games.’

With just five games remaining in Syracuse’s regular season, SU will need to compile some kind of a winning streak if it hopes to have a chance at reaching the NCAA Tournament. After a disappointing 14-point loss to conference bottom-feeder Villanova (12-11, 1-9 Big East) Tuesday, SU desperately needs to beat Cincinnati (10-12, 3-7 Big East) Saturday in the Carrier Dome (2 p.m., Big East network).

‘It’s definitely a must-win,’ Morrow said.

Syracuse’s performance in Big East play has run the gamut. SU has had convincing wins (a 79-38 shellacking of Seton Hall on the road), disappointing losses (the 14-point loss to the conference’s only then-winless team in Villanova) and gritty performances (a one-point loss to then-No. 3 Notre Dame at home).

Conference play has presented growing pains for the team. With five underclassmen averaging at least 13 minutes a game, Syracuse has needed to rely on young players. And with the season nearing its final stages, the lack of competition in the Orange’s non-conference schedule may have affected the team down the stretch. Therefore, consistency in the win column has been hard to come by.

The evidence comes with that inconsistency in Big East play.

But SU head coach Quentin Hillsman doesn’t feel Syracuse’s out-of-conference schedule is hurting the team’s performance and growth. Hillsman won’t attribute any struggles the team is experiencing now to the past. Rather, Hillsman feels his team needs to ignore any numbers or statistics and just go out and play. To Hillsman, in a conference like the Big East, things even out among teams by the end of the season.

Essentially, the lack of non-conference competition didn’t hinder his team’s growth. It didn’t delay any lessons the young Orange team needed to learn.

‘No, I don’t think (SU’s out-of-conference schedule) does,’ Hillsman said. ‘I think that our out-of-conference schedule gave us a nice variety of teams. And you look at what is going on in the conference right now – there are a lot of teams that had really good non-league schedules and won a lot of games, and now they are in the Big East and they are losing games. And vice versa.

‘So it’s not about that, it’s about our players continuing to get better and play hard.’

Hillsman has had a goal all year long of finishing at or above .500 in conference play. Heading into the game against the Bearcats, SU is in eighth place in the conference. In order to finish at 8-8, the Orange will need to win three of its next five games.

With three wins, the Orange will head into the Big East tournament at 21-8 overall. It’s a record that will put the Orange squarely on the bubble. SU is currently ESPN’s seventh team out in its bracket projections.

A finish to the regular season resembling the start of the year may afford SU its only hope of getting into the NCAA Tournament. It will be far from easy, though, as the Orange will host arguably the best women’s basketball team of all time in No.1 Connecticut (24-0, 11-0) and No. 9 West Virginia (21-3, 8-2). Syracuse will also have to go on the road to face a Rutgers team (14-10, 6-4) that will be desperately seeking revenge after a loss to SU earlier in the year.

And with that, Morrow, the veteran shooting guard who has been in this situation twice before — once as a freshman and once as a sophomore — is starting to sense the urgency.

Time is running out on Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament life. After the greatest start in program history, SU looks to be heading to the WNIT again.

But with just one winning streak, all could be saved.

Said Morrow: ‘We are starting to realize it’s crunch time, and we don’t want to live with any regrets.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on February 13, 2010 at 12:00 pm