CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Having bandaged, taped and wrapped almost every other part of her body this season, Shannon Perry agreed to be creative.

So when the Syracuse trainers presented her with a bulky white shin pad that stretched from her sock to her knee earlier this week, Perry slipped on the awkward-looking device without argument.

‘That’s called the ‘Shannon Special,’ ‘ SU head coach Marianna Freeman said. ‘We have a new medical equipment department at Syracuse, and we’re inventing new stuff for Shannon.’

Luckily for the Orangewomen, Perry’s game needs no reinventing. Despite wearing what looked like a miniature goaltender’s pad on her bruised right shin, Perry managed 16 rebounds — double the total of any other player — and helped Syracuse to a 62-59 win over Miami at the Convocation Center.

The last time SU played Miami, on Jan. 8 at Manley Field House, Perry sat out the back end of a two-game academic suspension. Her team suffered, losing 85-68. That day, SU lost the rebounding battle, 43-29.

After Perry banged knees with a Seton Hall player Tuesday night, it looked as though she might be limited for Saturday’s game, too. That seemed especially true on Saturday night after she warmed up wearing the ‘Shannon Special’ and then winced in pain following a collision early in the first half.

But if Perry felt any pain after that, she never showed it. And it didn’t slow her rebounding. She helped the Orangewomen practically flip the rebounding totals from Jan. 8, as SU outboarded Miami, 52-39, on Saturday.

‘I’m fine,’ Perry said afterward, showing no discomfort walking around the interview room without the brace. ‘I just didn’t want to get hit in the shin again and feel the pain again.’

She made sure the only feelings in the SU locker room following the game were joy and relief.

On a play that typified her night — and perhaps her game in general — Perry denied Miami a chance to extend its lead beyond 59-58 with about two minutes left. After missing a layup, she followed her shot and grappled for the rebound, forcing a jump ball that allowed Syracuse a second chance.

After the inbounds, Julie McBride converted a backdoor cut that gave Syracuse a 60-59 advantage.

‘The rebounds were coming my way,’ Perry said. ‘My teammates were boxing out for me, and for once, I was boxing out, too.”

‘She’s a physical player,’ Miami forward Tamara James said. ‘You have to set up your defense knowing where she’s at at all times.’

But Perry hurt the Hurricanes most when Miami was on offense. Twelve of her 16 rebounds were defensive. Offensively, Perry missed a number of layups and occasionally threw the ball away .

For the game, she shot just 5 of 18 from the floor and committed six turnovers. Minutes after turning over an inbounds attempt, Perry flung an errant pass to Hurricane guard Yalonda McCormick.

That play gave Miami possession with a 53-48 lead and 5:25 left. An angry Freeman promptly removed Perry.

‘(Freeman) told me I can’t put my head down,’ Perry said. ‘She told me the team needed me. I thought about it, and when I came back in, I was ready to play.’

Indeed she was. Perry secured her most important rebound — the one that gave SU another chance — moments later.

‘She’s athletic and experienced,’ Miami head coach Ferne Labati. ‘And you have to box her out.’

Published on January 26, 2003 at 12:00 pm