On a night when Syracuse honored five seniors playing its final game at the Carrier Dome, it was a pair of first-year SU players who made Monday night memorable for the Orange.

Freshman Erica Morrow and junior college transfer Chandrea Jones were the only Orange players to score in double figures, combining for 47 of the team’s 73 points. The tandem carried the Syracuse offense from start to finish in SU’s 73-51 victory over No. 13 West Virginia.

‘I have to give all the credit to my teammates,’ Morrow said. ‘They were scoring, Slinky (Nicole Michael) and Vaida (Sipaviciute) were scoring; everyone was scoring so everybody kind of backed off of me a little bit.’

Jones was also quick to credit her teammates for her big night. However, buckets falling through the net from somebody with the name other than Jones or Morrow was far and few between, which on this night wasn’t a bad thing.

Jones and Morrow combined for 12 of the 20 field goals made by the Orange, and at the foul line it was no different. The duo attempted 19 of SU’s 29 free throws and converted on 18. Jones was perfect from the charity stripe, shooting 12-for-12.

Morrow had a game and career-high 25 points. Jones was not too far behind with 22 points, her most since she scored 25 on Jan. 19 against Villanova. The two combined for only four points fewer than the entire West Virginia team.

But points weren’t the only columns they filled in stat sheet. Both combined for 15 rebounds, seven assists, six steals and only three turnovers.

‘Give them credit,’ Mountaineer head coach Mike Carey said. ‘They outplayed us in every phase of the game, played hard; give them all the credit in the world.’

Both Jones and Morrow stepped up when it counted most. West Virginia, with 12:49 remaining in the game, chiseled down what was a 17-point SU lead to only eight.

West Virginia looked to cut the lead to six when Jones got a steal, which led to a Fantasia Goodwin free throw, which padded the lead to nine. The following Mountaineer possession, Jones got another steal that led to two more free throws. Again, the Mountaineers tried to execute an offensive play, but it was the same story as Jones again stole the ball and hit a pull-up jumper and increased the lead to 13.

The steals ignited a 26-11 run that ballooned the Syracuse lead to 23, putting the game away.

‘At times like that when other teams go on a run, because basketball is a game of runs, so at times like that we just pull together,’ Morrow said. ‘I think we did a great job as a team, just coming together and locking down on defense and executing our offense.’

Morrow, again, deflected the credit to her teammates for executing the offense, but the freshman and her teammate Jones provided nearly all of SU’s point production in key situations. Of the 26 points during the run, Morrow and Jones scored 21.

Hillsman noticed where to look for the offense during the stretch run. On a possession in which Jones drove the lane then dropped off a pass to Goodwin in the lane, Hillsman screamed from the sideline, ‘Shoot the ball!’

‘He just wants me to be more aggressive,’ Jones said. ‘I mean, I can’t blame him, but I just look for my teammates.’

Hillman wasn’t surprised the way Morrow and Jones carried their team in the final game. The entire season SU has had someone different step in key times. In the beginning of the year, Nicole Michael was the go-to player. When winter finally set in and Big East play began, Jones was the one teams looked to shut down. And lately it has been Morrow who has put the team on her back.

‘It’s like we get one out, and another one steps in,’ Hillsman said. ‘It’s like we’ve got a little suitcase that everyone jumps into for about five games and they zip it up and stay in there. They just switch places you know.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on March 3, 2008 at 12:00 pm