Last season, Erica Morrow grinded through almost 33 minutes of exhausting back-and-forth play each game as a starter on the Syracuse women’s basketball team.

‘It was tough,’ said Morrow, a junior guard. ‘It’s going to be a lot different this year.’

This year, Morrow is catching up on her rest. With a roster he has called the deepest in his short career at Syracuse, head coach Quentin Hillsman has relied extensively on his entire group of players through the team’s first two games this season.

Hillsman has used at least 12 players in each of SU’s games thus far, with 10 players averaging more than 15 minutes through the team’s first two contests.

Syracuse (2-0) will look to continue putting its depth to use as it prepares to take on Alabama State today at 7 p.m. at Manley Field House.

Last season, Hillsman entrusted a core group of six players with the bulk of his team’s minutes, as those six each played more than 20 minutes per game. This season, only Morrow, senior forward Nicole Michael and junior guard Tasha Harris are playing more than 20 minutes.

And Hillsman doesn’t expect that to change anytime soon.

‘We’re going to keep the carousel moving,’ Hillsman said. ‘We have enough talent and players to do that, so we’re definitely going to take advantage of that.’

After the Orange’s opening 65-45 win over Farleigh Dickinson last Friday, Hillsman pointed to his team’s depth as one of the major factors in the victory.

SU used all 13 of its active players, including nine players for more than 15 minutes. Syracuse eventually wore down the Knights, which only used nine players.

‘I think that overall we knew they were thin,’ Hillsman said after the game. ‘In the second half, I think they just got worn down a little bit from having nine players who could play.

‘I think that says a lot about our depth. It was very good.’

Hillsman said he is more comfortable utilizing more bodies this season because of the improvement of the returning players and his highly-touted freshman class filled with newcomers he trusts to succeed in big spots immediately.

Intent on keeping his players fresh for the stretch run of games and of the season, Hillsman plans on using the newfound depth to his advantage.

‘We really want to play nine, 10 players in double-figure minutes,’ he said. ‘We want to really get into our bench and play aggressive, play strong.’

Individual players’ contributions thus far have led Hillsman to keep playing musical chairs with his team.

Sophomore guard Tyler Ash, who was touted as a prized recruit before her freshman season, has seen the biggest increase in minutes, with an accompanying boost in her level of play.

Ash averaged 9.4 minutes per game last season, as she struggled from the field, averaging only 1.8 points per game on just 38 percent shooting. She has forced Hillsman to nearly double her minutes this year by upping those numbers to nine points per game on 47 percent shooting.

‘She’s going to play big minutes for us,’ Hillsman said. ‘She’s stepped back and sacrificed a lot for this team. She has definitely been a star-caliber player for this team, so you’re going to see her play a lot of minutes at a lot of different positions.’

Also key is Hillsman’s instantaneous trust in three freshmen for key minutes – Elashier Hall, Kayla Alexander and Carmen Tyson-Thomas.

Each freshman is averaging more than 16 minutes per game, thanks to their seamless transition into the system.

‘There are a lot of things that you need to pick up on and a lot of things that are different from the high school game,’ Morrow said. ‘Honestly, I think they’re transitioning better than I transitioned.’

The Orange’s depth could also allow Hillsman to mix and match lineups throughout the game.

Morrow thinks the Orange’s range of available players could create matchup nightmares, as the team moves into the tougher portion of its non-conference schedule.

After her output last season, Morrow is relieved to have such a balanced and talented group around her.

‘Top to bottom, I think any given night we could play a different starting five,’ Morrow said. ‘We have a talented bunch of girls where, depending on the matchup, we could play all big or play all small.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on November 18, 2009 at 12:00 pm