Syracuse women’s basketball has faced 23 different opponents this season, but only three of them have been ranked. The No. 21 Orange will face another three in its final six games to close out the regular season, all of which are ranked No. 16 or higher.

With a 19-4 record (7-3 Big East), SU is in a strong position to have a spot among the 64-team NCAA tournament this March, but its last six games could say a lot in where the Orange play, what seed it is or even if they make it.

‘We’re going into our last six games, and we know there are NCAA implications that they look at how you finish the season,’ head coach Quentin Hillsman said. ‘So we want to continue to play strong and finish the season as strong as possible.’

The first of the six games comes Saturday at 7 p.m. as No. 16 Notre Dame travels to the Dome. With both teams tied for fifth in the Big East, the winner will have the inside track toward a bye in the conference tournament, which goes to the top four seeded teams.

What type of implications a win or loss would have for the Orange’s postseason resume is unknown as well. Even with the No. 21 ranking, the players know their first 19 wins mean nothing to future opponents.

‘We have six more games so we can’t just think that we are great now and then lose these games,’ sophomore Nicole Michael said. ‘We just have to keep playing hard and competing.’

Syracuse has only made the Division I NCAA tournament three times, the last bid coming in 2002. As much as these six games could decide whether this team could be the fourth, Hillsman doesn’t want to talk about these games as any more important than the first 23.

His players share the same view. A win only allows the number in the left-hand column to increase by one, no matter if it’s against Notre Dame or Colgate.

‘Playing every game is big,’ freshman Erica Morrow said of the upcoming games against ranked opponents. ‘A win is a win regardless of who you play. So we are just going to go back, prepare and just play hard and compete.’

Hillsman is hesitant to think that with all the work he and his team have done this year they still need to prove themselves. It’s good for the team to play with a chip on its collective shoulder, however, if the chip becomes too large, it could break the team, he said.

‘When you think about proving yourself you put a lot of undue pressure on yourself and on your kids,’ Hillsman said. ‘We just want to go out and continue to do the things that we’ve been doing.’

One thing the Orange may have to prove to itself is not whether it has the skill to play the upcoming schedule, but if it has the energy. The upcoming six games are part of a span in which SU plays eight games in 23 days.

Morrow and Chandrea Jones have seen increased playing time the last four games. In her first collegiate season, Morrow is averaging almost 32 minutes. Jones is logging 29 minutes per game.

In the last four games, though, Morrow has been on the court for 37 minutes on two occasions and 39 minutes in the other two. Jones has been on the court for 30 plus minutes in three of the last four games.

‘We’re trying to stay as fresh as possible, but also get in enough work so we’re ready to play,’ Hillsman said. ‘So it’s kind of funny and a fine line, between being overworked or under prepared, and I think so far we’ve found a good mix and a good balance of getting our kids ready to play.’

Just as Hillsman promises his team will be fresh enough, Michael thinks playing in the Big East has prepared her team for the final games of the schedule. There are three ranked teams left on the schedule in less than weeks, but that’s not rare in the Big East.

‘I feel like we are playing ranked teams every night,’ Michael said. ‘The Big East is a tough conference. If we play a team a week later or two days later it’s tough no matter what.’

mibonner@syr.edu

Published on February 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm