WBB | SU hoping it rises to Rutgers' level
By Kyle Austin
Posted: 2/29/08, 12:59 AM EST Section: Sports
Leave it to Quentin Hillsman to find the silver lining in his team's last three games.
In that stretch, Syracuse (21-6, 9-5) went 2-1 against three teams with a combined 23-30 record, two of which were ranked dead last in the conference when they faced the Orange.
The loss to Providence is the Friars' only win in their last 11 games.
Even the wins were anything but easy. It took a comeback from a 12-point deficit for SU to beat last place Cincinnati at home. And if it wasn't for an improbable late 3 from Erica Morrow, SU would have been swept by 4-9 Georgetown.
So if Syracuse is struggling against teams in the Big East basement, that doesn't bode well for its visit to powerhouse No. 4 Rutgers (23-4, 13-1) Saturday at 1 p.m., right?
Wrong, says Hillsman.
"If we're playing to where our competition is, then we should probably play pretty good against Rutgers," Hillsman said.
Throughout the stretch, Hillsman has avoided saying his team plays to the level of its opponents. He points to the top-to-bottom strength of the Big East and his young team as reasons for the team's recent struggles.
Nicole Michael, though, will come right out and say it.
"Mentally, we just play to other teams' levels," forward Nicole Michael said. "I don't understand why we do that. I think that's a team habit that we need to change. So we just have to play our level all the time."
The numbers are hard to argue with: The team is 5-3 in its last eight games, decided by an average of six points against teams with a combined .582 winning percentage. Compare that to SU's first six Big East contests, it was 4-2 against teams with a combined .714 winning percentage.
"I guess the one good thing about this that I really don't think our kids looked past the lower-rated teams in our conference," Hillsman said. "But I guess there's no chance of doing that against Rutgers, right? Everybody knows who Rutgers is, and everyone knows how good they are, so the beauty of this game is we know who and what we're dealing with."
In that stretch, Syracuse (21-6, 9-5) went 2-1 against three teams with a combined 23-30 record, two of which were ranked dead last in the conference when they faced the Orange.
The loss to Providence is the Friars' only win in their last 11 games.
Even the wins were anything but easy. It took a comeback from a 12-point deficit for SU to beat last place Cincinnati at home. And if it wasn't for an improbable late 3 from Erica Morrow, SU would have been swept by 4-9 Georgetown.
So if Syracuse is struggling against teams in the Big East basement, that doesn't bode well for its visit to powerhouse No. 4 Rutgers (23-4, 13-1) Saturday at 1 p.m., right?
Wrong, says Hillsman.
"If we're playing to where our competition is, then we should probably play pretty good against Rutgers," Hillsman said.
Throughout the stretch, Hillsman has avoided saying his team plays to the level of its opponents. He points to the top-to-bottom strength of the Big East and his young team as reasons for the team's recent struggles.
Nicole Michael, though, will come right out and say it.
"Mentally, we just play to other teams' levels," forward Nicole Michael said. "I don't understand why we do that. I think that's a team habit that we need to change. So we just have to play our level all the time."
The numbers are hard to argue with: The team is 5-3 in its last eight games, decided by an average of six points against teams with a combined .582 winning percentage. Compare that to SU's first six Big East contests, it was 4-2 against teams with a combined .714 winning percentage.
"I guess the one good thing about this that I really don't think our kids looked past the lower-rated teams in our conference," Hillsman said. "But I guess there's no chance of doing that against Rutgers, right? Everybody knows who Rutgers is, and everyone knows how good they are, so the beauty of this game is we know who and what we're dealing with."
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