Erica Morrow is out of her element, in an unfamiliar position on the court. But when she hears the familiar voice of Tasha Harris, it keeps her comfortable.

Morrow and Harris, Syracuse’s guards for the last three years, are SU’s two seniors. This year, they split time at point guard for the Orange. For Morrow, a former shooting guard, it’s her first time seeing significant minutes at the point. And that familiar voice she hears is letting her know she has plenty to learn.

‘She yells at me when I’m doing something wrong,’ Morrow said.

‘‘E, I’m open. E, what are you doing? E, look at the post. E, are you kidding me?”

Along with Harris and freshman Rachel Coffey, Morrow helps make up SU’s three-headed monster at the point. The three have combined to dish out 11.3 assists per game in the early going for SU. And those three will lead the Orange (4-0) as it looks to secure its fifth straight win Wednesday against Maryland Eastern Shore (1-1) in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m.

Through four games, it’s Morrow who leads the team with 5.5 assists per game. She gets her points (10.8 per game), as well, and it’s that versatility that makes her so dangerous running the Syracuse offense.

‘She’s a little quicker getting the ball up and down the floor,’ SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘She’s really getting us playing a bit faster.’

But Morrow’s transition to playing point guard, which she’s at for the first time since high school, hasn’t been seamless. In Syracuse’s season opener against Northeastern, Morrow had one of her worst games in an Orange uniform. Two-of-16 shooting. Seven points. Three assists to three turnovers.

Morrow was out of her element. The comfort zone of playing shooting guard or small forward was gone. It was as difficult a game as Morrow has endured.

‘It brings out a lot of different emotions in me,’ she said. ‘Because I don’t want to say I’m the best at things — I’m not — but I’m not used to doing things that I’m not good at. … Running the point is something that I’ve never really done at this level.’

Morrow said the last time she ran the point she had a 5-foot-9 center on a high school state championship team. That, compared to SU and its 6-foot-4 center Kayla Alexander, illustrates how different it is playing point guard at the Division I level.

The players are bigger and faster. The game is faster. For a player whose primary duty for three years has been solely to score, taking on the role of quarterback on the court is a lot to handle.

But that’s part of why Hillsman wanted Morrow to play some point guard this season. The game is faster, but so is Morrow. She, teammates and coaches said, is the fastest SU can offer up and down the court.

‘E’s faster than both of us, so our tempo is at a different level when she’s at the one,’ said Harris, referring to herself and Coffey. ‘It’s helping out really good, giving teams different looks, because we all play at a different pace and a different style.’

Morrow pushes the ball up the floor at a faster pace, so SU can transition from defense to offense and vice versa much quicker. Harris is the savvy veteran at the point, the one Hillsman and SU can rely on to handle the ball and to settle things down if the Orange is playing recklessly. Coffey is in the middle — bits and pieces of Morrow and Harris fused together.

Opposing teams can’t just key in on one part of Syracuse’s offensive game plan because if they do, Hillsman has the ability to switch it up — by putting Morrow at the point and Harris out on the wing, where she can shoot. Or he can return Harris to the point and allow Morrow to play the position at which she has stood out for three years.

Either way, Morrow is fine with it. Whatever helps the team win. Whatever helps SU get back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since her freshman season. Even if it means she’s out of her element.

‘You’ve got to kind of be everywhere, know everything, be everything and be able to do everything all at once,’ Morrow said. ‘You can’t have a one-track mind.

‘A lot of things happen in a short amount of time. It’s something to get used to.’

mcooperj@syr.edu

Published on November 30, 2010 at 12:00 pm

Contact Mark: mcooperj@syr.edu | @mark_cooperjr