Before transferring from Tennessee Tech to Syracuse this offseason, Diamond Henderson had succeeded, particularly at scoring, on every level she played.

And after finding a rhythm from Dec. 19 through Jan. 8 — she averaged 17.7 points over the six-game stretch — it looked like that trend would continue. But in the past five games, she’s scored just 8.2 points per contest.

“Teams notice that she’s a great player and they don’t let her get easy catches,” Orange head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “They’re game-planning for her.”

So far, Henderson’s slump hasn’t cost SU, coinciding with a five-game winning streak. She is still No. 23 Syracuse’s (15-5, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) third-leading scorer, but if her drop-off continues the Orange could struggle to find points off the bench. At the beginning of the season, Henderson said adjusting to the ACC would be one of her biggest challenges, which has proven to be true.

Henderson’s up-and-down season continued against North Carolina State on Sunday when she scored just five points and only played nine minutes due to back spasms. Hillsman saw she wasn’t going after loose balls the way she normally does, which was a sign he should take her out. Though he said it’s not serious and didn’t know if it affected her in prior games, Hillsman chose to keep her out for the majority of Sunday’s game instead of risking that the injury would worsen.

“You got to be able to manage your players and know that we have a lot of basketball left,” Hillsman said. “… Back spasms are muscular and they go away and she’ll be back and she’ll be ready to roll.”

In three second-half minutes on Sunday, Henderson committed a foul and a turnover. Against Wake Forest on Jan. 15, she shot 3-for-17 from the field.

Though her injury might not be serious, her lack of recent point production might be.

Entering the season, Henderson was expected to pick up the scoring void early on left by the injured Brittney Sykes, who was still recovering after tearing her right ACL and meniscus in March.

Sykes came back in December, but in just her third game tore the same ACL again and won’t return this season.

As a result, more responsibility has fallen on Henderson to contribute offensively — which is her strong suit, anyway.

“Being able to read the defender,” Henderson said before the season started of her offensive strengths. “If they give me the lane, I’ll take it, and if they give me the jumper, I’ll take it.”

But in the past five games, she’s scored more than eight points just once. Hillsman said the reason for this is because opposing teams are locking down on her. Henderson’s been forced to either dribble or pass. While she hasn’t had an assist in the past three games, he said she’s doing a good job making the right pass that leads to a teammate’s assist.

And while she’s been contributing with her passing, Hillsman said before the season that her job is to score. With Syracuse’s next three games being against ranked opponents, it would help the Orange if Henderson returned to the way she was playing a month ago.

“She’s a great offensive threat,” SU guard Alexis Peterson said. “We all go through those slumps. She’s been a little banged up so we know that come Thursday, Diamond will be back and she’ll be in full force.”

Published on January 28, 2015 at 12:10 am

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