Each time it seemed Syracuse gained momentum, it lost control in the simplest way possible. The Orange turned it over.

Syracuse finished the game with 18 turnovers, 13 coming in the first half. South Florida built a lead in the opening half that helped the Bulls defeat the Orange, 78-61.

USF scored 19 points off turnovers to Syracuse’s seven, but the brunt of the problem came in the first half when the Bulls outscored the Orange, 15-0, off of turnovers.

Mistakes at crucial points of the game demonstrated Syracuse’s inability to play a controlled style of basketball.

‘We just get too impatient and too quick to get the ball out of our hands,’ Syracuse guard Cintia Johnson said. ‘And that’s why we created all of those turnovers.’

Hillsman blamed SU’s lack of aggression for the team’s weak start on Sunday. And he said he felt the early turnovers and USF’s authority on the boards is what ultimately doomed the Orange.

Turnovers put the pressure on Syracuse early, especially with South Florida dominating the Orange under the basket. The Bulls out-rebounded SU, 47-37, and 18 of South Florida’s boards were offensive rebounds.

‘South Florida’s a great team so it ain’t hard to get in a hole when you’re playing a great team and not making plays,’ Hillsman said. ‘So I thought at times we just didn’t make enough plays and they made some great plays and capitalized off of mistakes.’

Despite the turnovers, Johnson recorded a season-high nine assists – four more than she made during any other game this year. Johnson repeatedly used her 5-foot-4-inch frame to slip inside the defense and after drawing defenders, she would dish to a teammate for an assist.

This strategy appeared to backfire at times, when forced passes produced many of the Orange’s turnovers.

The Orange had a chance to cut USF’s lead to single digits at the end of the first half and bring some momentum into the half, but a mistake by Johnson highlighted how turnovers cost Syracuse opportunities to create energy and take control of the game.

Johnson tried to force her way through the defense, but with no room to slip inside and time winding down Johnson threw up a pass that sailed out of bounds. And with no Syracuse player in the vicinity of the pass, it was difficult to tell where the pass was intended.

SU’s inability to hang on to the ball was complicated by South Florida’s emphasis on making sure it reached its goal of 70 to 80 points a game.

USF head coach Jose Fernandez said he realized his team was getting away from its fast-paced gameplan when the Bulls only scored 10 points in the game’s first six minutes.

Fernandez decided to turn up the heat on the Syracuse offense by having his team run a full-court press.

‘We really needed to control tempo and make it an up-tempo game,’ Fernandez said. ‘And that’s why we decided to press as many possessions as possible.’

The press could be seen as a key factor for overwhelming the Orange early and setting the pace for the rest of the game. Johnson believes the full-court pressure was nothing unusual for her team to handle. She attributed the team’s early struggles to problems created by the Orange itself and not the opponent.

Johnson thought the Orange opened the contest halfheartedly and this lack of energy hurt Syracuse. SU has fallen behind early in many games this season and Johnson said the team needs to find motivation before each game starts to solve this problem. If it can do this and prevent turnovers, SU won’t be forced to play from behind so often.

‘Coming out aggressive was one of our main things this year,’ Johnson said. ‘We come out (lax) every time. And as soon as Coach Q gets in our face and yells like in a good way and then we start to go out there with heart, but he shouldn’t have to do that. We should do that as a team regardless.’

Published on January 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm