Sara Antolick caught the ball on the left block, turned and banked a shot in. She scored again on the opposite block, splitting a double-team for a layup on the next possession. The freshman made it three straight buckets, banking yet another short jumper in. And she evened it out once more from the left side of the post for a quick eight points.

Antolick battled foul trouble in the Syracuse women’s basketball team’s 72-63 win over Syracuse AAU, but she managed to finish second on her team in scoring with 10 points in only 10 minutes of action. All 10 came in the first half, including the eight-point outburst in less than two minutes.

‘It was frustrating,’ Antolick said. ‘I’m glad I could help the team. I was upset with the fouls but what can you do?’

Everyone played double-figure minutes and scored except for Sarah Wegrzynowicz, who saw five minutes of court time and was 0-for-2 from the field. Freshman guard Mary Jo Riley suited up but did not play due to a knee injury. Her playing status is week-to-week.

Riley’s four classmates made a big impact in their first game at Manley Field House, though. Jessica Richter and Antolick started the game alongside sophomores Tracy Harbut and Lauren Kohn and senior Chineze Nwagbo. Syracuse AAU came out with some tough man-to-man defense. Antolick picked up her first foul on SU’s first offensive possession fighting for post position, and Richter almost had her first crossover stolen by AAU guard Denise Becher. The Orange settled after that, getting everyone into the game before the midway point of the first half. Freshman Vaida Sipaviciute played tough in the paint, blocking four shots in her first few minutes of action, finishing the game with six. She also got her first basket off a pretty pass from Nwagbo, who spun into the lane, wrapped a pass around a double team and fed her post partner for the easy two points. The two dominated the glass throughout the game, registering 32 rebounds between them.

‘It’s just great playing with them,’ Nwagbo said of Antolick and Sipaviciute. ‘It feels great to just lob the ball in there and someone’s going to make a layup. Being able to go inside and out is just going to be something that really helps us this season.’

‘From the minute (Antolick) played, she was very productive,’ SU head coach Keith Cieplicki said. ‘She made a big contribution in a short amount of time. When she touches the ball, something good usually happens.’

The four freshmen combined for 38 points. Amanda Adamson scored all seven of her points in the second half. Richter had five assists in 30 minutes at point guard. More importantly, she had zero turnovers.

The upperclassmen logged productive minutes, too. The Orange played basic man-to-man defense and motion offense to prepare for the regular season. Nwagbo had five assists, Rochelle Coleman found her shooting touch in the second half for six points behind the 3-point line and Krystalyn Ellerbe was steady at guard. Ellerbe hit a jumper with 8:33 remaining in the first half. She then picked an AAU player’s pocket and fed a trailing Harbut, forcing the visitors to call time out.

‘Krystal gave us a huge lift in the first half,’ Cieplicki said. ‘Obviously we’ll have to have some other things when we get into the regular season, but sometimes simple is better.’

Danene Hopson, a 1989 SU graduate, cut the Orange lead to three with a three-point play with four minutes left in the game. But sophomore Lauren Kohn calmly drilled a 3-pointer, and Harbut made it 69-61 soon after to ice the contest.

‘It was good to play somebody else,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I thought our effort was good today. We got to see a lot of different things from our players.’

Published on November 7, 2004 at 12:00 pm