Syracuse women’s basketball coach Keith Cieplicki, like many SU coaches, knows Binghamton quite well. While most of Syracuse’s other non-rev coaches know of the Bearcats because Syracuse and Binghamton, within an hour’s drive of each other, face off yearly, Cieplicki knows the Bearcats for a different reason.

He coached against them for the past six years in the America East Conference as the head coach of Vermont. Now, in SU’s season opener on Saturday at 1 p.m., Cieplicki will get his first look at Binghamton as coach of the Orangewomen.

‘They remind me kind of the way we played at Vermont,’ Cieplicki said. ‘They play fundamental. They try to get the ball inside, they have pretty good shooters and they try to push the ball when they can. I don’t think they had a great record last year, but they got everybody back.’

Cieplicki, in fact, has never lost to the Bearcats. Vermont defeated Binghamton three times last year, including once in the America East tournament. For his career, Cieplicki is 5-0 against Binghamton.

This matchup, though, will be different than any other for Cieplicki, as it marks his first regular-season game as Syracuse’s head coach. As the preseason winds down, he has settled on a starting lineup for Saturday – unless someone proves undeserving in today’s practice.

Senior Julie McBride and junior Krystalyn Ellerbe will start at the guards, while juniors Rochelle Coleman and Chineze Nwagbo will start at forward. Sophomore Jill Norton will get the call at center. Cieplicki feels confident in his choices, as McBride, Coleman and Norton all started last season. Nwagbo would have started last year if not for a season-ending anterior cruciate ligament injury, and in SU’s last preseason game, Ellerbe showed her improvement, scoring 14 points in Syracuse’s 64-51 win over Syracuse AAU.

‘I’m always willing to make changes,’ Cieplicki said. ‘But on the other hand, I’m not one to overreact. We just want to make sure people are ready. You take those five players and they’ve shown consistently that they’re ready to go, and they’re also very skilled players. It’s a nice mix for us.’

Based on Cieplicki’s preseason substitution patterns, several others should get significant playing time, one of whom should be freshman guard Lauren Kohn. In the win over Syracuse AAU, Kohn had 12 points on 4-of-4 3-point shooting. Cieplicki said he’s confident in her shooting ability as well as shot selection.

‘Lauren always plays well, and tonight she showed everybody,’ Coleman said after the win over Syracuse AAU. ‘She played defense and knocked down some shots. She’s a great player, and she just showed everyone tonight what we already knew.’

Also on the minds of the Orangewomen is their upcoming trip to Hawaii. SU heads to the Rainbow Wahine Classic in Honolulu during Thanksgiving break.

It could be a hectic couple of weeks for Syracuse. Next Tuesday night, it plays its home opener against Massachusetts. Then, on Wednesday, the Orangewomen fly to Hawaii. After taking Thursday off for the holiday, SU will play three games over the next three days.

Cieplicki is looking forward to relaxing and playing good basketball on the trip. After an opening-round date with Montana, SU could face a Hawaii team in the second round that Cieplicki says is often in the Top 25. Waiting for the Orangewomen on the other side of the bracket are No. 2 Texas, No. 22 Arizona and No. 26 Virginia.

‘I’ve talked to many coaches who’ve done this, and it can take a team a fairly long time to recover from a trip to Hawaii,’ Cieplicki said. ‘As I said, this would be a great trip if we didn’t have to play any games, and I’m sticking to that. We’ll do what we have to and be well-prepared, but I do want the players to have the best experience they can have out there.’

Before SU can head to the tropical paradise, it must travel to gloomy Binghamton on Saturday. Despite last year’s 10-18 record, most players can’t wait for the season to start with a new coach and a new chance.

‘I’m ready, we’re all ready,’ Nwagbo said after defeating Syracuse AAU. ‘We go to practice and work hard every day. We work hard on defense every day. I can’t wait.’

Published on November 20, 2003 at 12:00 pm