Rutgers women’s basketball head coach Vivian Stringer felt that the number of 3-pointers Syracuse attempted was a bit too high for her style of play.

After Wednesday night’s game, though, she wasn’t questioning how much it paid off for the Orangewomen.

Syracuse was 9 for 23 from 3-point range in its 59-57 upset victory over the Scarlet Knights. It was an impressive 39 percent for the game, but even more stunning was how well the Orangewomen shot during their comeback in the second half.

Syracuse went 6 for 10 for the second half, with senior Julie McBride connecting on three of those.

‘We needed that and we needed it at home,’ Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki said. ‘Chineze (Nwagbo) is doing a nice job establishing some inside play, and we don’t feel that we have to shoot the 3 all the time.’

Said Stringer: ‘I wouldn’t shoot that many. But they did it pretty well.’

Stringer then paused mid-sentence and asked if the Scarlet Knights play Syracuse again at home later in the year. When informed that they do Feb. 3, Stringer said the results will be different.

‘We’ll see how well they hit the 3 then,’ she said.

Bench warming

For nearly the entire second half Wednesday night, Syracuse went without subbing.

McBride, freshman Lauren Kohn and juniors Sarah Wegrzynowicz, Nwagbo and Rochelle Coleman, stayed on the floor together for all but 0.9 seconds of the second half.

With just less than one second left, though, the rotation was broken up when 6-foot-2 center Jill Norton subbed for McBride.

Cieplicki inserted Norton to help prevent Rutgers from getting a good inbounds pass with the game tied at 51 and headed for overtime.

‘I know she only played 0.9 seconds in the second half, but that’s what it takes,’ Cieplicki said. ‘It takes people showing up and doing the little things.’

With Syracuse still playing with only seven players, there was little room for subbing, especially as the second half continued and the Orangewomen started to build some momentum.

‘Just going with the feel,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I thought everyone had a good rhythm and with the box they had a good feel defensively. We just didn’t want to mess with it.’

In the box

The box that Cieplicki alluded to was Syracuse’s box-and-one defensive strategy.

The Orangewomen started the game playing a zone defense. But after falling behind by 15 at the half and allowing Rutgers to shoot 5 for 11 from 3-point range, Cieplicki made a switch.

He abandoned the zone for a slightly different strategy. It had the similar zone concept in the middle of the floor, but whenever Rutgers star forward Cappie Pondexter got the ball, she was almost immediately double-teamed.

Pondexter scored 12 in the first half but was held to seven in the second half and overtime combined.

Coleman drew the primary coverage duties on Pondexter but was often assisted on double-teams by McBride and Kohn.

Cieplicki agreed that the key was the defensive switch at halftime and offered praise to his older brother Kevin in the process.

‘I’m going to credit my older brother Kevin, who was a high school coach for 18 years,’ Cieplicki said. ‘He said you have to play box-and-one on the best players in your league. I said, ‘Come on, that’s high school stuff.’ ‘

He paused while laughter erupted and then said: ‘But he’s right.’

This and That

Former Orangewomen Tierra Jackson and April Jean were in attendance. The two sat opposite the players’ benches during the first half but switched at halftime. Their reason for moving was obvious. Jackson and Jean joined former SU head coach Marianna Freeman in her familiar position in the stands behind the SU bench … Syracuse’s first-half point total of 18 was its lowest since being held to 14 against George Washington on Dec. 4. … Four Orangewomen played more than 40 minutes. Both Nwagbo and Coleman played the entire 45 while Wegrzynowicz and McBride played 41 apiece.

Published on January 14, 2004 at 12:00 pm