When it comes to scoring for Syracuse, there’s no question about who does it best.

Brittney Sykes, who leads the team in points per game with 17.3, is the team’s go-to player when SU needs a basket.

In the Orange’s Dec. 21 win over St. Joseph’s, it was Sykes that hit a running jumper off the glass as the buzzer sounded to grab the victory. With the Orange trailing by double digits in the second half to Virginia on Jan. 26, it was Sykes that scored 18 after the break in the 84-75 win.

Up until the past five games, Sykes has been SU’s most lethal offensive weapon. But in that span she’s shot just 43.9 percent compared to 53.9 percent in the team’s first 23 games.

“It just happens to fall the way it does,” Sykes said. “All I have to do is just keep my confidence, which is still there. I know I can score — it’s no problem with scoring.

“The next thing you know, I’ll look at the scoreboard and have 20 points.”

Following Sykes’ career-high 31-point outburst against Virginia Tech on Feb. 6, she has averaged just 12.4 points per game. Against Florida State on Feb. 13, she put up a season-low six points, a performance preceded by a 5-of-17 shooting night against Notre Dame on Feb. 9.

Sykes will look to regain her scoring touch when Syracuse (20-8, 9-6 Atlantic Coast) travels to Winston Salem, N.C., on Sunday for a 2 p.m. matchup with Wake Forest (14-13, 5-9). The game will be SU’s last game of the regular season before the ACC tournament.

“It’s not something that worries me,” Sykes said. “But going into the postseason, yes, I do have to pick it up.”

Sykes said she’s confident that she will get back in the groove.

But in her absence several others have stepped up. La’Shay Taft has made a resurgence late in her senior year, averaging 12 points per game in her last four games. Briana Day is coming off a career-high 14 points. Last week Rachel Coffey had back-to-back double-digit scoring outputs for the first time in conference play.

“Every night, someone steps up big-time,” sophomore Brianna Butler said. “It shows the depth of our team and it shows how every night we can come in and expect something from everyone.”

Sykes and Butler are Syracuse’s main threats. And while other players have shined as of late, Syracuse needs both sophomores to score in order to win.

Butler is the team’s leading 3-point shooter and averages more than 14 points per game. SU head coach Quentin Hillsman has said many times after losses that he needs more production from both of them.

And while he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging their importance, he’s happy to see everyone get in on the action.

“I think it’s more important for us to have balance than for (Sykes) to have 30,” Hillsman said. “Right now we have good balance and continue to have four players in double figures.”

The shooting slump hasn’t gotten to Sykes. After practice Wednesday morning, she was her jovial self. She was throwing alley-oops to teammate Maggie Morrison. She was practicing kick-out passes to Leary and would get jokingly mad when her 3-point shots didn’t fall.

The smile never left her face.

She may be playing her worst basketball at the season’s most crucial juncture, but Sykes is brimming with confidence heading into the postseason.

“It happens where certain people have their greatest nights and some people don’t,” Sykes said. “But you just hope that I’m on, Bri’s on, Keya’s on, Q’s on, the whole team’s on.

“It’s just staying focused and staying confident in my game.”

Published on February 27, 2014 at 12:48 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3