Freshman Cassondra Covington came to Syracuse not planning to play on the women’s basketball team. Covington came to campus expecting to be a regular freshman, balancing time between classes and Kimmel. In the middle of December, though, Covington has come to expect something else: valuable minutes off the bench for the injury-depleted Orange. That’s a rarity considering Covington is a walk-on.

‘I came here first and foremost for academics because they granted me scholarship money,’ Covington said. ‘I’ve been playing basketball for a while, so I decided to contact the coach and see if I could try out on the team. I came here not expecting to play. I was going to get a better opportunity at Syracuse.’

Covington and the Orange play nine games over winter break and begin the bulk of its Big East schedule on Jan. 3 at Marquette. SU won its Big East opener Thursday night, 61-59, over St. John’s.

With injuries to five members of Syracuse (5-4, 1-0), Covington had to play and has responded well. She played a season-high 19 minutes against Cornell and scored her first points. Against Penn State, Covington pulled down six rebounds.

Although the stat line for Covington may not be overly impressive, it does not mean her work is overlooked. Head coach Quentin Hillsman praised Covington and how she has contributed to an injury-plagued team.

‘(Cassondra) is very solid,’ Hillsman said. ‘She can do a lot of things to help us.’

These include defense, on which Covington prides herself and prefers to play compared to offense. Hillsman has taken notice and feels a defensive role is going to suit Covington.

‘She’s a very good defender, she’s evolving into that,’ Hillsman said. ‘I think she’ll be the kind of player if the team has a good guard or good point guard that we really want to pressure, we’ll give her some minutes and let her pressure the ball and let her play a little.’

Quite the contrary from the role Covington originally expected as a walk-on.

‘I thought I was just going to help out as far as being a practice player and providing bench support,’ Covington said.

The starters have quickly noticed.

‘She’s really aggressive and presses the ball, and that’s what matters,’ center Vaida Sipaviciute said. ‘We’re happy to have her here.’

Sipaviciute also recognized Covington’s shy nature, which she feels stems from being a quiet, freshman walk-on. Covington’s starting to become more comfortable with the team now and is even being looked upon by Sipaviciute to help control the pace of the game.

‘I wasn’t sure if I was going to mesh being a walk-on and trying to have the gist of playing with new members of the team, gradually over time I’ve come to form relationships with other players on the team,’ Covington said. ‘It enables you to work together with the whole unit so that you can be effective. Instead of having individual entities contributing, everybody comes together as one and it’s the best for the team.’

Covington may be doing something she had not expected, but that doesn’t mean she is content with her play. The quiet Covington is vocal when it comes to ways she can improve.

‘I feel like I need to work on my game and contribute more,’ Covington said. ‘I feel more pressure to bring something to the table, other than support. I hope to improve on my 3-point shooing, dribbling skills, passing and just overall court awareness. I want to feel out my strengths and weaknesses.’

Published on December 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm