At Syracuse’s Media Day on Oct. 17, head coach Quentin Hillsman stressed that he has “seven starters.” In the first half of the Orange’s first game on Nov. 16, Hillsman made 31 substitutions.

But in SU’s most recent game, a 62-52 loss to No. 9 Florida State on Monday, only six players logged more than four minutes.

“I think a lot of times too, you get into the flow of the game,” Hillsman said, “and once you start playing a game, and you start making a run, you tend to leave the players on the floor.”

The way Hillsman cycled players against FSU is a stark change from the beginning of the season as Syracuse’s rotation has been shrinking throughout conference play. The No. 25 Orange (15-7, 5-4 Atlantic Coast) hosts No. 13 North Carolina (18-4, 5-3) on Thursday at 7 p.m. and Hillsman will have to decide whether to go with his best players or spread out the minutes to avoid an eighth-straight loss to a ranked team to start the season.

Early on, SU was still sifting through its options: transfers Diamond Henderson and Maggie Morrison were just beginning their Syracuse careers; Cornelia Fondren and Alexis Peterson were adjusting to their starting roles after coming off the bench for much of last season; Bria Day and Amber Witherspoon were vying for the backup center spot.

Now, three months later, the rotation is pretty much solidified and Hillsman said the team is not limited by having six main contributors. Day and Witherspoon only play when starting center Briana Day gets into foul trouble. Morrison averages 10.7 minutes a game while Henderson, Fondren and Peterson average 23.4, 26.9 and 32 minutes, respectively.

“Those are the people who have been hot all season,” Morrison said. “… So those are the people who have the hot hand so (Hillsman) has full confidence in them.”

All of the Orange’s six rotation players average more than 21 minutes and the next highest player in minutes is Isabella Slim, who averages 12 per game. The disparity in minutes between those in and out of the rotation is significant, and growing.

Slim has played more than her average in only two of SU’s nine ACC games. Bria Day and Morrison have mostly played single-digit minutes in conference play.

When Syracuse beat Virginia 70-58 on Jan. 11, only six players played more than 10 minutes. Morrison only played 10 minutes but hit four 3-pointers off the bench and finished as the Orange’s second-leading scorer.

When Briana Day missed the game against Boston College on Jan. 18, Bria Day made her first career start and grabbed 11 rebounds in 20 minutes and finished as SU’s leading rebounder.

Even though Bria Day and Morrison’s minutes were limited, they proved they could still affect the game.

Players that provide a spark off the bench boost the team’s energy, Fondren said, and it shows other teams that Syracuse is deeper than the six players that get the majority of minutes.

“I don’t really worry about responsibility,” Fondren said. “Sometimes I feel like we have to take responsibility for each other. We’re accountable for each other because we’re a team. So I feel like nobody has more responsibility than the next person.”

But in the midst of a three game stretch against ranked teams — the Orange lost 78-58 to No. 8 Louisville on Jan. 29 — Hillsman has turned to the players he confides in most.

While he was experimenting with different combinations earlier in the year, Hillsman has now settled on a group of players that he trusts late in games.

“You got to play those players down the stretch so they can help you win the game,” Hillsman said. “And I think that we’re doing that. We’re getting players on the floor that we think can be productive.”

Published on February 5, 2015 at 12:05 am

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