On the opposite side of the gym from her teammates, Tasha Harris tries to get better. The Syracuse guard fires off jump shot after jump shot inside the Carmelo K. Anthony Center with a personal rebounder feeding her basketballs.

The rest of the players are laughing and joking with one another across the gym prior to practice on Feb. 4, but not Harris. She needs that extra work.

‘I just try to make people respect my jump shot,’ said Harris, a senior guard on the Syracuse women’s basketball team. ‘Just so people won’t help off me. My job is just to knock down open shots.’

Though that may be her job, Harris has proven incapable of that this season for the Orange. The senior is struggling to score and protect the ball in her new role as a two-guard for head coach Quentin Hillsman. Meanwhile, freshman guard Rachel Coffey sits on the bench, yearning for more minutes.

Coffey played six minutes in SU’s loss to Rutgers on Sunday, and her minutes have been steadily increasing throughout Big East play. She’ll look to continue that as SU (16-6, 4-5 Big East) plays host to No. 9 DePaul (21-3, 8-1) Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

With Hillsman’s decision to move senior Erica Morrow from shooting guard to point guard, Harris’ best attribute was nullified. A self-professed ‘pass-first’ point guard, she is now forced to play off the ball for the majority of games in Morrow’s former role.

Harris has started all 22 games this season for Syracuse. And she has failed to score in double digits 22 times.

Even when she does run the point — when Morrow is not in the game or in a fast-break situation — Harris’ lackluster play continues. True enough, she’s had a game with 10 assists and another with nine. But she’s also had a game with nine turnovers and two others with six.

‘We don’t want her to turn the ball over,’ Hillsman said. ‘Being a good passer also means taking care of the ball. So we can’t afford for her to come down the court and make the brave play. But overall, she’s been great for us since she’s been here.’

As Harris struggles, the heir apparent at point guard sits eagerly waiting on the bench. Coffey was Hillsman’s top-rated freshman in his 2010 class, but she hasn’t appeared in seven of the team’s games. This is partly due to a few nagging injuries and an illness, Hillsman said.

But even in limited minutes — she averages nine per game — her talent has shown. In the team’s second game against Cornell, Coffey had three points, three assists and four steals in 20 minutes. And against Arkansas Pine Bluff, Coffey contributed a season-high six points and three assists.

‘Her play in practice, that’s where it all starts,’ SU guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas said. ‘Coach looks for hard play, competitive play with passion, wanting to work hard. And toward the end of the season, right now, she’s starting to figure that out.

‘I think that her minutes should increase.’

Tyson-Thomas and Coffey are both members of the ‘Orange’ practice squad, along with Shakeya Leary, La’Shay Taft and Troya Berry. Lately, Coffey’s play in practice has been stellar. For the past week, the ‘Orange’ squad, for which Coffey is the floor leader, has dominated the starters, Tyson-Thomas said.

Perhaps Coffey’s biggest asset is her ability to handle the ball. To Hillsman, a former point guard himself, that’s huge.

‘She’s probably the best ball handler that I’ve coached,’ he said.

Coffey admits she wants more playing time, mainly to alleviate the pressure of brief minutes. In such a short time, one mistake means she comes right back out. She’s hoping for a longer leash.

‘I don’t get nervous thinking I have to impress him,’ she said. ‘I just think that I have to do more for everyone. Him and the team.’

Coffey has earned the respect and admiration of her teammates on the ‘Orange’ squad and at least the verbal praise of Hillsman thus far. It’s just a matter of when and if he will pull the plug on Harris.

But she’s becoming more antsy on the sideline. Sitting isn’t easy for one of the best high school players in the country.

‘Coming in, it was a little tough,’ Coffey said. ‘Everyone thought I was going to get more playing time than I am. … I get frustrated. But at the end of the day, I’m the one that has to do it all. So I can’t really worry about what everybody else thinks.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

 

Published on February 7, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13