Quentin Hillsman believes it can be done. He has seen it before, and he believes Syracuse has every right to be the next team to pull off the feat.

After an inconsistent season marred by struggles in almost every aspect of the game, the Orange head coach still believes SU has a chance of accomplishing what it set out to do. 

But he also knows Syracuse has no margin for error.

‘Things have happened in women’s basketball before,’ Hillsman said. ‘Teams have gone on to win five out of their last six, or last seven, and they’re a hot team and get to the tournament, so I just challenge our girls not to give up.’

After the Orange won its 16th game of the season over Marquette on Saturday, Hillsman said the victory had a greater meaning than simply ensuring a winning season. More importantly, it keeps the team’s postseason hopes alive as long as SU puts together a string of victories to close out its season. It’s still a tall task for the inconsistent Orange (16-11, 5-8 Big East), but it’s the mission starting Tuesday on the road against No. 21 DePaul (20-7, 8-5 Big East) at 9 p.m.

If SU can pull off an upset against the Blue Demons, it will have No. 15 Georgetown to contend with. On Tuesday, though, the focus is on DePaul and trying to take the next step toward the NCAA tournament and away from the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

The Orange’s woes are the Blue Demons’ strengths. Three of DePaul’s starters are shooting at least 40 percent from field, buoying the Blue Demons to third place in 3-point field-goal percentage in the Big East.

Syracuse’s struggles from the outside have permeated its ability to win consistently, though the Orange is coming off a 54.4 percent shooting performance against the Golden Eagles. SU hasn’t shown the ability to find its shooting stroke and keep it for a streak of games, but if that is going to happen, now is the time.

‘You have to make shots to win,’ guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas said. ‘For us to finish off hot, we’ve got to make shots inside and out. I think we’re starting to turn that up more in practice. We’re more intense, and we’re getting more focused because it’s getting into postseason time.’

Syracuse’s strong shooting performance in the win over Marquette came after another quality offensive game, when it finished 43.4 percent from the field against Louisville. In the two contests combined, the Orange even managed to drain eight 3-pointers to show a part of SU’s game that’s been dormant for most of the season.

DePaul is a difficult challenge, though. The Blue Demons are lethal from beyond the arc and play a game that will be tough to guard for Syracuse.

‘Until we get four deadly 3-point shooters on the perimeter and a four that’s really a five that can play in the high post, we can’t play that way,’ Hillsman said.

So if Syracuse can’t match the type of personnel DePaul throws out onto the floor night in and night out, it’s going to try to control what it can. It’ll try to outplay the Blue Demons with intensity on both ends of the floor, utilizing that pressure defense that converted 21 Marquette turnovers into 32 points. If the Orange can get some good looks from the outside, it’ll take its shots, and if not, pass off to Alexander inside.

‘We’re more intense,’ Tyson-Thomas said, ‘and we’re getting more focused because it’s getting into postseason time.

The daunting task ahead for SU is to get some solid, even surprising, performances from players who hadn’t been much of a factor at the start of the year. Off the bench, Phylesha Bullard has been shooting 63 percent in her last six games while averaging more than six points per contest. And after starting off the year on a tear before slowing up, guard Elashier Hall has been shooting 43.2 percent from the field in her last four games and averaging 10 points over that span.

Both Hall and Bullard have provided additional offensive sparks Syracuse will need in the final three games of its season. The first step toward matching SU’s tournament ambitions begins Tuesday against DePaul.

‘I guess I am kind of getting back to that, knowing that we really need these next couple of games,’ Hall said. ‘I just have to go out there and do as I’ve been doing and keeping up the momentum and just getting it going for those coming off the bench.’

cjiseman@syr.edu

Published on February 20, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Chris: cjiseman@syr.edu | @chris_iseman