Picture a puzzle.

Not a whole puzzle but one on the brink of completion. The pieces individually appear perfect, and they should fit snugly together. But for some reason, they just can’t complete the picture.

Such is the dilemma for the Syracuse women’s basketball team, which opened Big East play with three consecutive losses, the most recent a 75-55 defeat at Rutgers on Saturday. While SU offers one of the most talented rosters in the conference, it has been plagued by untimely off days from key players like Shannon Perry, Julie McBride and April Jean.

‘We certainly need to have all three of our pieces play well together,’ SU coach Marianna Freeman said. ‘We haven’t totally had that. Individually, we have done some great things. The pieces aren’t playing at the same level at the same time.’

Against Rutgers, the piston of Syracuse’s engine that failed to fire was Perry. Freshly reinstated after a two-game academic suspension, Perry registered eight points and three rebounds. Her previous season averages were 17.5 points and 11.6 rebounds.

April Jean has been another enigma. In the Big East opener Jan. 4 against Virginia Tech, which SU lost, 73-63, Jean scored seven points and grabbed six rebounds. Four days later against Miami she registered the best game of her career, attaining highs in points (23), rebounds (15) and assists (six).

Jean’s exploits still couldn’t stop SU from falling, 85-68, because of a porous inside defense that allowed Hurricanes’ forward Tamara James to score 30.

‘I have no excuse or reason why the pieces haven’t come together,’ Freeman said. ‘They just haven’t.’

The Orangewomen’s rebounding deficiency also prohibited the puzzle’s completion. They rank last in the Big East in rebounding margin and have been outrebounded by an average of 11 during the last three games.

To rebound from its rough start, Syracuse must, well, rebound. Especially on the defensive end. Syracuse’s penchant for not boxing out — a symptom of its 2-3 zone defense — has resulted in an abundance of second-chance points for opponents.

Against SU, Rutgers grabbed 15 offensive rebounds and Miami snared 18.

‘For past years, we’ve always been a good rebounding team,” Freeman said. “This year, we’re not. Until the team realizes we have to box out, (getting outrebounded) will continue to happen.’

‘Every game, we’ve gotten beat on rebounds,’ SU point guard Julie McBride said. ‘We’re small. But we were small last year, and we got rebounds.’

Another missing piece during SU’s slump has been solid play from complementary players. When Perry faltered against Rutgers, no role player picked up her slack. Awa Diop, who started at center against the Scarlet Knights, turned in a box score with more zeroes than Bill Gates’ net worth.

In 15 minutes, she had zero points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals with two turnovers.

‘Our guards and April (Jean) are always the ones that are scoring,” McBride said. “We need other people to do that, give eight to 10 points a game. That would definitely help a lot.’

With games against daunting conference foes Boston College, Villanova and Connecticut upcoming, Syracuse must figure out how to solve its puzzle — fast.

‘Everyone has to make a change as far as doing the little things,’ McBride said. ‘Everyone has to refocus. Our focus has to be on winning. We have to start winning, now or never.”

This and that

The Orangewomen won’t be getting interior help anytime soon. Freeman decided during Winter Break to redshirt Chineze Nwagbo, a junior who has been out since last season’s Big East tournament game against West Virginia with a torn right anterior cruciate ligament. Nwagbo, a 6-foot forward/center, scored 8.4 points a game last season but hasn’t recovered from her knee injury as quickly as Freeman expected.

Published on January 13, 2003 at 12:00 pm