Despite suffering a head injury last week against Ohio State, Nicole Michael still wanted to sneak into her uniform and play in the Syracuse's game against Portland State. But Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman thought against it.
Instead, Hillsman kept the Orange's starting forward on the bench and relied on the rest of his rotation to rally together in Michael's absence. So Hillsman played each player in his nine-person rotation double-digit minutes. The strategy produced successful results.
Led by Erica Morrow's 27 points, the Orange overcame a first-half 14 point deficit to defeat the Vikings, 82-77, in overtime, treating the crowd of 570 to a thrilling victory in its home-opener.
"It's hard to replace (Michael)," Hillsman said. "But I think we have proven tonight that even in tough games, that we can play eight, nine players that will figure minutes by committee and take up some of the slack that she leaves because she definitely leaves a very, big hole on our team."
But it didn't start off easy for the Orange. With freshman guard Tyler Ash making her first career start, Syracuse had difficulty adjusting to the void left by Michael's injury.
Off the bat, the Vikings dissected SU's zone defense, draining four open three-pointers in the opening minutes of the game. And the Orange's early troubles weren't simply limited to the defense. On the offensive end, SU committed sloppy turnovers, missed feasible lay-ups, and was out rebounded by its opponents.
With 14:30 left in the first half, Hillsman realized he had seen enough. He reshuffled the lineup, pulling all his starters, except Morrow and guard Tasha Harris. But the frustration continued with the new rotation.
"Quite frankly, I was embarrassed," said Hillsman. "So I really put a lot of pressure on them. It just was puzzling because I know how good of a team we can be."
The frustration showed. After being called for a shooting foul, freshman forward Troya Berry turned around and furiously barked at the referee. Right away, Berry's teammates restrained her.
At the end of the first half, the Orange trailed the Vikings, 45-35, leaving an angry Hillsman to pose a serious challenge to his players during his halftime pep talk.
"He just stepped back and said that (the game) was in our hands," Morrow said. "He said 'Are we going to come together and fight for the names on our jersey and fight for each other or are we going to crumble?'"
The challenge seemed to strike a nerve within the team. During the first six minutes of the second half, the Orange's defense cracked down on the Vikings, limiting the squad to only two field goals and a free throw.
Then, trailing 62-48 with 8:48 to go in the game, Syracuse suddenly exploded. Morrow regained her touch and trimmed the deficit down, scoring seven straight points. Troya Berry and forward Juanita Ward caught fire as well. The forward duo pulled down key offensive rebounds down the stretch and followed up missed shots with scores.
Finally, Morrow's layup with 46 seconds remaining gave the Orange with its first lead since 17:49 of the first half. Portland State guard Claire Faucher responded to the basket with a jumper of her own, giving the Vikings a one-point lead with 27 seconds left.
Coming out of a timeout, Syracuse ran its designated play, which left a wide-open Morrow to take the game-winning shot. But the shot clanked and fell straight into the arms of forward Chandrea Jones, who was fouled on the subsequent shot with 5.8 seconds left.
"I was just thinking, 'I have to make these at least one to get us into the game,'" said Jones.
Jones went 1-for-2 from the free throw line, missing her second shot and the opportunity to win. Still, the one score tied the game, 71-71, and gave the Orange one last chance to complete its massive comeback.
During the extra session, SU rotation sprinted out on a 6-0 run. As time elapsed, Harris avenged the Orange's premature struggles, sealing the victory with a game-clinching three-pointer.
"I knew that once it went to overtime that it was over," Hillsman said. "Because I knew that, no disrespect to Portland State, we were getting to the basket and we got ready.
"When you look at a game like this, and see that every person that played minutes played double figure minutes, that's a big win for your program."
dsmorais@syr.edu
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