Saturday night marked not only the start of a new season for the Syracuse women’s basketball team, but also a homecoming of sorts for a former standout Orangewoman.

Beth Record, who was drafted by the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks after graduating in 2001, returned to Manley Field House and led visiting Team Concept to a 60-44 victory.

The 6-foot forward, who never panned out in the WNBA and played two seasons overseas, pulled down nine rebounds and added 12 points.

‘It’s always fun to come back,’ Record said. ‘It’s just all about being out here, having fun, playing hard and hopefully giving (Syracuse) a challenge.’

Record hit a 3-pointer with 4:38 remaining to thwart a Syracuse rally. Syracuse had trimmed its deficit to three, but Record’s 3-pointer ignited a 19-6 Team Concept run to close the game.

‘Even though I’m a competitor, I’m still a fan, so you know you like to see them do well in every situation, but it’s nice to win,’ Record said. ‘I’m out there to win also and I always like to get the win.’

Record was a two-time third team All-Big East selection during her career at Syracuse and is fifth on SU’s all-time scoring list with 1,285 points. She played 109 games over four years, recording the second-highest point total for an Orangewomen in a season during the 1999-2000 campaign.

‘Reach the top,’ Record said as to her goal. ‘Work hard and see what hard work brings. It’s brought me pretty far so far, so I just hope it can take me to the top eventually.’

Marianna returns

A quick glance into the stands on Saturday night revealed a familiar face to SU basketball fans – former head coach Marianna Freeman.

Freeman, who resigned after 10 years last March, returned for Syracuse’s first game of the year to watch the team she built.

Sometimes enthusiastic, Freeman applauded her former Orangewomen throughout the game, offering encouragement from the stands behind the SU bench about six rows up.

‘I thought Marianna showing up was an incredibly classy thing,’ new SU head coach Keith Cieplicki said unprovoked. ‘This is a group she brought here.’

Syracuse senior guard Julie McBride, who played the past three years under Freeman, didn’t want to talk about it, though.

‘I don’t really want to discuss that,’ McBride said. ‘I’m sorry, but I just want to stick with what we’ve got now.’

Likewise, Freeman wasn’t in a talkative mood. She politely declined to speak to The Daily Orange, only saying, ‘No thanks. I’m here just as a fan.’

Fresh faces

Three Orangewomen made their collegiate debuts Saturday night.

Freshmen Lauren Kohn and Tracy Harbut, as well as sophomore Marchele Campbell, played in their first games for Syracuse. Campbell sat out last year due to an initial NCAA eligibility rules violation.

‘I thought everybody did something sooner or later out there to help us,’ Cieplicki said of the new players. ‘I think I’ll be able to say more to that when I watch the film, but I wasn’t in total crisis on the bench when I put anybody in the game. That’s a pretty good feeling for the first time out.’

Campbell secured the most impressive debut, scoring six points on two 3-pointers in 17 minutes.

Kohn and Harbut each played 19 minutes. Harbut scored two points on free throws while Kohn notched her first point with a free throw as well.

‘I’ll admit I was a little nervous coming into it,’ Kohn said. ‘Excited, nervous – a combination of both. Overall, it was a lot of fun.

‘I’ve got tons of stuff to learn. I think our team did a lot of things very well tonight. Granted, we also screwed up on a lot of things. So like Julie said, I’m just going to take it as a learning experience.’

This and that

Experience dominated SU’s starting lineup with senior Julie McBride and juniors Krystalyn Ellerbe, Sarah Wegrzynowicz, Rochelle Coleman and Chineze Nwagbo rounding out the starting five. … Referees whistled Team Concept for 29 personal fouls, and two Team Concept players fouled out in the second half. … The experimental trapezoidal lane being used in the preseason actually had an effect. With just over six minutes to play in the first half, Team Concept’s Krista Hays-Peterson was called for a three-second violation and responded with a look of astonishment. Then she looked down and realized that while she wasn’t in the paint, she was in the expanded paint, and smiled at what was the correct call.

Published on November 9, 2003 at 12:00 pm