Undoubtedly, Rochelle Coleman has been the Syracuse women’s basketball team’s most improved player this season.

Now if she could only figure out why.

‘I don’t know,’ Coleman said. ‘I just come out to play. If I make more buckets than I did last year, then I did.’

Saying Coleman’s been scoring more points this season is like suggesting Mozart is more musically inclined than the Backstreet Boys. In other words, it’s a ridiculous understatement.

Coleman, a sophomore, averaged 2.6 points in 10 minutes her freshman season. Coleman ranks third on SU in scoring (13.2 points per game) and second in minutes per game (37.5).

Coleman will try to extend the trend tonight when Syracuse (10-16, 5-10 Big East) plays its final regular-season game, against Notre Dame (17-9, 9-6) in Manley Field House at 7, even if she can’t figure out how it began.

‘I don’t know,’ Coleman said. ‘I just put the ball up more.’

While Coleman is lost explaining her success, head coach Marianna Freeman thinks two factors helped Coleman — hard work and confidence.

‘We had asked her to work hard,’ Freeman said. ‘Normally, you will ask a young person to do that. This is what you have to improve upon: Your shot has to become a lot more consistent, you have to be able to handle the ball for us, defense has to improve. You’ll tell them all those things when they get ready to go home for the summer, and on most occasions, they come back the same player. Rochelle came back a different player.’

During the summer, Coleman crafted her jump shot and improved her conditioning. She dropped her weight from 190 pounds to 170 in preparation for her new, larger role. Coleman has started all of SU’s 26 games this year, the only Orangewoman to do so besides point guard Julie McBride.

‘To get in that position in the beginning of the season, you have to work and earn it,’ Coleman said. ‘This preseason, I was in way better shape than I was my freshman year. That helps a lot. Your freshman year, everything’s new. Coming back your second year, you kind of realize how things operate.’

As she’s figured out Division I basketball, Coleman has been transferred from the bench to the 3-point arc. Ranking fourth in the Big East with a 36.9 3-point percentage, Coleman has gained confidence to shoot in any situation.

With 2:06 left and SU clinging to a four-point lead Saturday against Pittsburgh, Coleman had scored only three points. But when McBride found her open in the corner, Coleman caught the pass and fired a 3 with no hesitation. The shot iced the game, as SU went on to win, 71-61.

‘That was a huge shot,’ McBride said. ‘When Rochelle’s open, we know she’s going to shoot it, and I have absolutely no problem with it.’

‘She had missed like three in a row,’ Freeman said. ‘That’s Rochelle. She’s a confident person, because she works hard to be successful.’

Now that Coleman has become a reliable shooter, she’s building herself into a complete player. Typically, Coleman grabs 2.8 rebounds and dishes 1.8 assists to go with her 13.2 points. Against Pitt, though, Coleman distributed seven assists and snared seven rebounds, both career highs.

‘She’s expanding her game,’ Freeman said. ‘Early in the year, she wasn’t really going to the boards.’

‘If she could average five, six rebounds a game, that’s huge for us,’ McBride said. ‘She’s starting to understand that.’

Freeman said Coleman is by far the most improved Orangewoman, so much so that she nominated Coleman for the Big East’s Most Improved Player award.

‘You can just see the dedication that she applied to becoming a better player over this summer by the output that she was able to give our team,’ Freeman said. ‘To come from playing 10 minutes a ballgame to being a vital part of the offense for your team, she was one of the most pleasant surprises.’

Published on March 3, 2003 at 12:00 pm