Cintia Johnson stands at 5-foot-4, but the diminutive starting point guard on Syracuse women’s basketball team had no problem throwing herself into the melee Wednesday night against Athletes in Action. Johnson led the Orange with 10 rebounds and added a team-high eight assists in the team’s 87-78 loss.

‘I’m the shortest person on the team and my ability to go out there and rebound being the shortest person on the team, that makes a big impact on the team,’ Johnson said.

Despite the assists, Johnson struggled at times on offense. She finished shooting with 2-for-8 from the field and had a game-high four turnovers.

Johnson said she’s more focused on her point guard duties of distributing the ball than her shooting. But turnovers disappointed her and head coach Quentin Hillsman.

With just under seven minutes remaining the second half, she lost her dribble and forced a pass that was intercepted and resulted in a fast break for AIA. Johnson rushed back to pressure the shot, but after a Keri Lambeer foul, Hillsman pulled Johnson out of the game and scolded her on the sideline.

‘He asked me, ‘Am I kidding him?” Johnson said. ‘I wasn’t supposed to make that play, but I thought that person was open.’

After the brief sideline meeting, Hillsman quickly inserted Johnson back into the game. Johnson believes it’s a sign her coach is willing to trust her even if she’s making mistakes.

Hillsman said Johnson demonstrates a high amount of athleticism, evidenced by her 35 minutes of hustling on the court.

‘She’s very athletic, so if anything’s loose and anything within her area, she’s got to get it,’ Hillsman said.

In the game’s final minute, Johnson still was flying full-steam. She had a coast-to-coast lay-up, drew a shooting foul and almost stole an inbound pass before she lost control and fell into one of the media tables on the sideline.

Additionally, Johnson used her smaller frame to maneuver inside the Athletes in Action defense to draw defenders before kicking the ball out to set up an open jumper for a teammate. Hillsman said he wished she penetrated more often during the game. He emphasized this was an aspect of her game that she needed to exhibit more while handling the point.

‘She has to understand that she has to put more pressure on the point,’ Hillsman said. ‘She really has to take the ball to the basket and really give it to the gut of the defense. And we’re working on that and she’s going to do that.’

Overall, Johnson said she felt confident about her game and as long as she concentrates on her passing and ball handling then she’ll have no problem succeeding.

Hillsman agreed with this point, and added he had no problem with his shortest player leading the team in rebounds. He believes if she’s going to keep bringing down those rebounds, the team should do fine.

‘If she can get 10 rebounds and I feel good about Vaida (Sipaviciute) getting 10 rebounds,’ Hillsman said. ‘We’ll be in good shape.’

Published on November 8, 2006 at 12:00 pm