SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. – Following Syracuse’s overtime loss to Georgetown on Jan. 2, the Orange’s first of the year, Quentin Hillsman knew the doubters would surface.

Despite a school record 12 victories to begin the season, the SU women’s basketball head coach knew the naysayers would attribute the team’s loss in only its first conference game to his squads weaknesses. SU’s weaknesses that were perhaps hidden in the team’s non-conference portion of the season.

But minutes after his teams resounding 79-38 victory over Seton Hall (8-7, 0-2 Big East) Tuesday, Hillsman wanted to set the record straight. The team that took the floor in the Carrier Dome three days prior wasn’t the team he was accustomed to. And that tonight the real Orange showed up to play.

Did they ever.

‘The last game wasn’t us,’ Hillsman said. ‘And you know, we knew that a loss like that puts a little doubt in your fans about you know, what happened through the non-league (schedule). We knew that we were a good basketball team, and we knew that we wanted to come out hard and aggressive.’

For now at least, the critics are silenced.

In a thorough effort, SU (13-1, 1-1) defeated Seton Hall by 41 points in front of 235 fans at Walsh Gymnasium in South Orange, N.J. The win marked the largest margin of victory for SU in a conference road game in the programs history.

Kayla Alexander and Juanita Ward led Syracuse in scoring with 18 points apiece, as each player carried the Orange through different stretches of the game.

‘I think that we as a team handled the situation very well and played very good,’ Ward said. ‘I give everybody credit where it is due. You know it’s not about what team is better than what team. It’s about who comes out and plays the hardest.’

As a result of its domination of the interior the entire night, thanks to its 2-3 defense and size advantage, SU had the game well in hand by halftime. The Orange entered the break with double the points of the Pirates, via a 42-21 lead.

But it wasn’t smooth sailing for Syracuse the entire way. Through the first nine minutes Seton Hall stayed with SU thanks in large part to a number of 3 pointers. On the other end of the floor, the Pirates were able to keep Syracuse’s two leading scorers, Nicole Michael and Alexander, in check early on.

SU was able to stick with Seton Hall though primarily because of the play of Ward. Throughout the first portion of the opening period, Ward hit an array of shots and consistently slashed to the hoop and connected on contested lay-ups, including a circus shot up-and-under that even left the junior forward smiling.

The turning point in the game came roughly nine minutes in, when Alexander converted on her first basket of the game. After almost ten minutes of being held scoreless, the freshman proceeded to account for five points in less than a minute, and gave SU a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

‘Every time she is open we got to give her (Alexander) the ball because she is a big key to our team,’ Ward said. ‘We have got to keep feeding it.’

Four minutes later, Alexander almost single-handedly put the game away for good in another explosive one-minute stretch. In consecutive possessions the center tallied a 3-point play, connected on two free throws, forced a 3-second violation and scored again to extend SU’s lead to 14, and force Seton Hall head coach Phyllis Mangina to call a timeout.

The highlight of the series though came on the 3-second violation, as Alexander used proper postposition to frustrate Seton Hall’s Alexandra Maseko. It was a sign of maturity from the young center on the defensive end that her coach feels goes unnoticed at times. But Hillsman thinks it is just as important as the baskets on the other end of the floor.

‘She’s huge because she is a dominant force in the paint,’ Hillsman said. ‘What we really try to do is focus on the first 20 possessions of the game. And we want to win those first 20 possessions. If you win those first 20 possessions normally you are going to have a lead going into the locker room.’

At the end of the day, even with individual growth from Ward and Alexander, Hillsman is undoubtedly most happy with the fact that the team got its first conference win. Especially after the teams first loss of the season — no matter what the margin of victory may have been.

But a record-breaking effort sure does leave any coach smiling.

‘To win a conference game on the road like this is very impressive,’ Hillsman said. ‘It’s hard to win on the road like this no matter who the opponent. No question we will take the win. Even if it was by one point, I would take it.’

aolivero@syr.edu

Published on January 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm