It appeared Wednesday afternoon that Syracuse center Vaida Sipaviciute won’t have to wait for next year’s highly-rated recruiting class to receive help on the offense.

Sipaviciute improved over her dismal eight-point performance in the team’s season opener against Penn State, as she and the rest of the starters exploded for all but three of the team’s total points in the Orange’s 72-64 win over Cornell in front of 105 at the Carrier Dome.

After struggling in SU’s two exhibition games and against the Lady Lions on Sunday, Sipaviciute, the team’s top scorer last season, scored a team-leading 18 points. Out of SU’s starting five, only point guard Cintia Johnson failed to put up double figures, missing the mark by a point.

Freshman Nicole Michael scored 17 points and junior college transfer Fantasia Goodwin contributed 14 more to help the Orange attack in SU head coach Quentin Hillsman’s first career victory in a game that was not as close as the final score indicates.

‘I feel like right now we have players who can help me out,’ Sipaviciute said. ‘If they score then it helps me. Then I can do my stuff inside.’

Sipaviciute took advantage of Cornell’s undersized lineup and started the game shooting 6-for-7. She dominated inside the paint and helped the Orange build a 34-25 halftime lead by scoring 12 of her points in the first half.

Hillsman said having four players in double figures will make it easier for Sipaviciute to duplicate last year’s success.

‘It makes teams feel like they don’t need to sit in Vaida’s lap,’ Hillsman said. ‘If we have more players that can score than the opposing team won’t just sit in Vaida’s lap.’

Sipaviciute’s first half performance set the pace for rest of the game as the Orange never relinquished its lead after an 11-2 run early in the game punctuated by a Michael 3-pointer. However, a few times Syracuse seemed on the verge of a collapse, especially at the hands of Cornell forward Jeomi Maduka, who finished with a game-high 27 points.

Maduka had a chance to cut a six-point deficit into a one possession game with just over a minute left, but SU guard Mary Joe Riley, who replaced struggling forward Keri Laimbeer as a starter, took a charge from Maduka and then hit her two free throws to seal the victory.

Syracuse starting point guard Johnson, the team’s shortest player, finished with a team-high nine rebounds. Her aggressiveness showed on defense, too. She had four steals for SU and provided one of the most memorable moments in the game on one of her steals.

After forcing a turnover, Johnson had a breakaway lay-up, but after sensing footsteps behind her she stopped short of the basket and had Cornell guard Lauren Benson slam into her, which sent Benson tumbling over Johnson’s back. Johnson then proceeded to bank in the point-blank shot.

Johnson said she was not surprised by the effect she is already having as a starter because of the confidence Hillsman had that she could succeed as SU’s point guard.

‘(Hillsman) came in here and he said he had a job (for me),’ said Johnson. ‘He told me that I can play my role – get a couple rebounds, put points on the board and get my teammates the ball.’

Despite the apparent lack of depth – only two bench players played Wednesday – Sipaviciute displayed confidence that SU’s offense this year will collect productivity from everyone on the team.

‘It feels good right now,’ Sipaviciute said. ‘It used to be me or like if it’s not me than it’s nothing. If I don’t score we lose basically. But I feel now we have players to help me out.’

Published on November 15, 2006 at 12:00 pm