Michael McBride stood and waited. Though his daughter Julie was on the verge of becoming the Syracuse women’s basketball team’s all-time leading scorer, Michael looked on calmly. Just more than 30 seconds later, McBride ended the anticipation by drilling a 3-pointer, passing Felisha Legette’s record of 1,526 career points. Michael turned away from the action just long enough to smile and slap one of his friends five. Just like that, the moment all 1,017 fans in Manley Field House had waited for came and went.

McBride responded in a strikingly similar fashion to her father. She turned toward the crowd and gave a brief yelp, but nothing out of the ordinary. She quickly drained two more 3s.

McBride didn’t care about the record. She just wanted to win. A win, like so many before, she wouldn’t get. Syracuse lost for the 17th time this season, by a score of 85-65 to Miami.

Prior to the game, McBride declared she’d much rather defeat the Hurricanes than break the record. She didn’t want the attention on her – she still had the focus of leading her team to victory.

To the delight of the 60 family members and friends that made the two hour and 30 minute trek from the small town of Mechanicville, the record fell. McBride, though, was left with the same empty feeling that she has dealt with so many times this year.

Even with all the losing the Orangewomen have done this season, McBride has stood strong. Clearly frustrated with her team’s play, she’s kept her emotions bottled up. Whatever first-year head coach Keith Cieplicki has asked her to do for the team, she’s done without question. In her first three years at Syracuse, all McBride knew was running the ball and making plays in the open court. Cieplicki came in and asked her to lead a slow-tempo, at times boring offense. The strongest part of McBride’s game was stripped away from her. Despite the numerous temptations, McBride has refrained from pushing the ball all season, never complaining. She just wants to win.

‘I’d rather be 16-4 than breaking records,’ McBride said. ‘It’s kind of bittersweet, because it’s not something I wanted for the season to go like this. Something good happens, then something bad happens. What if we were winning and I didn’t break the records? That would obviously be better.’

‘She’s such a team-oriented person,’ Michael said. ‘The scoring is really just something that comes. She’s always thinking team goals.’

But her personal accomplishments are impressive nonetheless. She’s SU’s new all-time leading scorer with 1,557 points. Her all-time assist mark stands at 563. She also tied the record for career 3-pointers last night, knocking down four treys to equal Jamie James’ mark of 226. The only thing McBride hasn’t been able to do is win.

For much of her four seasons at Syracuse, McBride has been the player opposing teams have gunned for. This has certainly been the case this season. Despite this, McBride has prospered.

Being the top player on a struggling team is nothing new for McBride. She’s had just one winning season in her four years at Syracuse. Both her father and high school coach, Chris LaBombard, said much like at Syracuse, McBride was clearly Catholic Central High School’s star. LaBombard said McBride is easily the most talented basketball player to come out of the school, but despite her talent, the team never had much success.

Still, McBride inspired other, less talented players and made them better. She also brought attention to Catholic Central, which LaBombard said has made it a much stronger program today.

‘This whole season, I’ve just wanted to win,’ McBride said. ‘I believe sometime in my life I’ll be a winning player or coach at the next level. My experiences here at Syracuse will help me later in life.’

As McBride’s last go-around comes to a close, arguably the greatest player in Orangewomen history has been forced to endure the long struggles of a rebuilding process. For now, the record is meaningless for McBride. At a time when McBride should be filled with joy, she’s forced to face the ugliness of reality – that the Orangewomen have won just three Big East games and are on the bubble for just the Big East tournament.

Perhaps in a few years, she’ll look back and realize what she’s accomplished by breaking a record that’s stood for 15 years. Yes, in a few years Cieplicki will have the program back on its feet, and SU will once again return to the NCAA Tournament. Unfortunately, it will be a few years too late for McBride. SU’s all-time scoring and assists leader deserves better.

Mike Licker is a staff writer at The Daily Orange, where his columns appear occasionally. E-mail him at mjlicker@syr.edu.

Published on February 18, 2004 at 12:00 pm