Chandrea Jones is learning that putting up big numbers has its consequences.

Facing constant pressure from opposing defenses that have keyed in on her, Syracuse women’s basketball’s leading scorer has found herself in a shooting slump. Jones has averaged less than 12 points in her last four games – shooting only 26 percent – after averaging 20 points in the previous seven games.

But her team is 3-1 during that stretch.

No. 21 Syracuse (18-4, 6-3 Big East) will travel to Seton Hall (13-9, 3-7) tonight for a 7 p.m. tipoff, as the conference season winds down and teams jockey for position in the Big East tournament.

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said Jones’ recent shooting drought doesn’t concern him. With a comfortable fifth spot in the Big East standings (12 teams make the tournament), Hillsman can afford to wait for her to shoot her way out of it.

‘She’s a very good offensive player, so I’m not that concerned about it,’ Hillsman said. ‘I know that she’ll get going, and when she gets going again, somebody’s going to get hit up for about 25.’

Hillsman said recent opponents have been planning their defenses specifically to stop Jones, double-teaming her when she touches the ball. They’ve even been throwing two players at her on inbounds plays.

The obvious tradeoff for the Orange’s foes is with two people on Jones, somebody has to be open. On Sunday against Marquette, Jones fought against constant pressure and shot only 3-for-17 for 10 points. But Erica Morrow, with space to work, dropped a career-high 24 points on 8-for-15 shooting, and SU won, 70-67.

‘Everybody has their own game plan,’ Jones said. ‘Unfortunately everyone is coming after me. It’s OK, my teammates got my back. As long as we keep winning we’ll be all right.’

No matter how few field goals Jones hits – she has tallied three in each of her last two games – Hillsman will not let Jones restrict her attempts. Her shots have stayed constant, even as her percentages have plummeted.

Her percentage, though, doesn’t seem to be affecting the team. Even though Jones has shot only 26 percent in her last four games, the team’s percentages have actually been higher than SU’s season average throughout that stretch.

For forward Nicole Michael, her team’s success despite Jones’ slump is a testament to depth.

‘We have great players other than Chandrea,’ Michael said. ‘We just keep playing hard. Other teams are scouting hard, they know Chandrea’s the leading scorer, so they’re going to scout to try to stop her. She’s doing well, and she’s going to keep playing hard, and she knows she’s got great players around her.’

Michael was SU’s leading scorer last year and set the school record with 501 points, 17.3 per game. She’s averaging only 13 per game this year and couldn’t care less about it.

‘I was the leading scorer, but we weren’t winning,’ Michael said of last year. ‘So what good does that do? This year it’s a team effort; more players are scoring in double digits every game. It’s just amazing.’

Balanced scoring – four players average at least 12 points per game – has become a hallmark of Hillsman’s team this year. From day one, he has preached having four players in double-figure scoring each game. With seven left to play before the Big East tournament, the players have taken heed.

That system has made keying in on one player a fruitless effort, a fact Hillsman is happy to point out.

‘If teams are going to really key in on her, they’re going to make a mistake,’ Hillsman said. ‘Because we have a lot of weapons around her.’

Jones, a junior college transfer in her first year with the Orange, got used to attention as an All-American on Odessa (Texas) College’s national championship team last year. Although she admits Big East defenses are more aggressive than she’s used to, Jones takes it as a compliment.

‘I think I’ll be all right,’ Jones said. ‘I know what I’m capable of doing, and I guess they [do] too, that’s why they’re on me.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 12, 2008 at 12:00 pm