Marquette head women’s basketball coach Terri Mitchell put out a challenge to the Syracuse backcourt. Her gameplan for Sunday’s game against SU was to slow down the Orange’s inside game.

Syracuse freshman guard Erica Morrow took advantage, scoring a career-high 24 points to lead No. 23 Syracuse to a 70-67 win over Marquette in the Carrier Dome Sunday in front of 3,552.

The Golden Eagles (13-10, 5-5) rallied from as much as 14 down in the second half and had a chance to tie the game on their final possession. Instead, Marquette opted for a quick two, and the ensuing pair of layup attempts were unsuccessful to preserve a much-needed victory for Morrow and the Orange (18-4, 6-3).

‘You have to pick your poison,’ Mitchell said. ‘(Morrow is) the only one that hit the 3’s, and they were big 3’s. We tried to keep them out of the paint.’

Morrow’s performance yesterday fueled a Syracuse team seemingly suffering the effects of playing in the toughest conference in the country. The Orange, which lost to lowly Georgetown eight days earlier, came into Sunday needing a comeback win, and Morrow led them to it.

‘Coming off of a loss, you always want to come back,’ Morrow said. ‘We lost to the last place team in the conference [sic], Georgetown, I’m sure we had a few doubters. Just to come back at home and show everyone that we’re still a top team in the country.’

Chandrea Jones, SU’s leading scorer, was 3-for-17. It was her fourth straight game shooting less than 35 percent. Morrow was the only Syracuse player to score more than 10 points. While the frontcourt put together a solid rebounding effort, it was Morrow who provided the points.

‘When I look at the next person next to me on the bench, my teammate, I know they want it just as bad as me,’ Morrow said. ‘I wouldn’t say I have to put the team on my shoulders, I’ve got to just contribute and on every possession just play hard and contribute positively to the team.’

Both teams got off to a sloppy start, committing 17 turnovers each in the first half. But Syracuse cleaned up its act in the closing minutes, going on a 21-4 run to take a 10-point lead into the break.

SU held onto the lead into the second half, but Marquette clawed back to take a 58-57 lead with 6:42 left in the game.

Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman took off his sports coat. He was ready for the game to heat up.

But in the next 59 seconds, Morrow scored five points and added an assist to help Syracuse get out to a six-point lead. Syracuse would receive one more scare when Marquette took the lead with four minutes left, but a 6-2 run sealed the win for the Orange.

Morrow’s 37 minutes Sunday marked the third straight game she spent less than four minutes on the bench. Hillsman, who otherwise relies on a deep rotation, has been forced to rely on Morrow to get him through the last three games, which have been decided by an average of four points.

‘I thought Erica Morrow was unbelievable today,’ Hillsman said. ‘Twenty-four points in 37 minutes. This poor kid playing so many minutes. I’ll have to buy her a backpack, she’s carrying us a little bit.’

Hillsman has been trying to limit his shooting guard’s minutes, but when the game is on the line, he needs her composure on the court. In Sunday’s game, in which Syracuse committed 26 turnovers, second-most on the season, Morrow contributed only three, and had two steals of her own.

Trying to make something happen late in the game, Marquette pressured the Syracuse ballhandlers in an attempt to force a turnover. The Orange didn’t oblige, and played without a turnover in the final five minutes.

‘They’re competitive kids, and I don’t worry about them,’ Hillsman said of his guards. ‘They get ball pressure every day in the playgrounds of New York City.’

Hillsman knew when he recruited Morrow that her experience winning games – she won four consecutive state championships in high school – would be useful. That success has carried over to Syracuse, even if Hillsman relies on her too much.

‘I’ve been trying to back off her some, I don’t do a very good job of it,’ Hillsman said. ‘But I try. She’s just a very good player, and I knew when I recruited her that she would come in and do big things for us.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 10, 2008 at 12:00 pm