HARTFORD, Conn. – Juanita Ward knew she would have to raise her game Friday. Without its senior leader and leading scorer, Nicole Michael, the Syracuse women’s basketball team played like it against lowly Seton Hall, limping out of the gate and trailing by one at the half.

But through it all, Ward remembered the pep talk Michael gave SU’s other starting senior before the game.

‘Nicole is one of our leaders,’ Ward said. ‘She said to me before the game, ‘J, just go out there and give it your all.’ Coach (Hillsman) always says that when one of your leaders is down, someone else has to step up.’

And with Michael unable to play while nursing a bruised foot, Ward was the player who stepped up. The senior forward guided the Orange to a 65-42, come-from-behind victory in the opening round of the Big East tournament against Seton Hall Friday at the XL Center in Hartford. It was the program’s first victory in the tournament since 2005.

Feeling a sense of urgency, Ward helped take the game over and sparked a 17-2 SU run in the second half that put the game away.

For the player who has said on numerous occasions that basketball is the most important component of her life, Ward could feel her days of college ball slipping away by the minute. The Orange (21-9, 8-9 Big East) trailed by as much as 13 in the first half before cutting the deficit to 28-27 at the intermission.

‘At halftime, we didn’t really talk about the Xs and Os,’ Hillsman said. ‘We just talked about wanting to win this basketball game and how much it means to us.’

It took a little while out of the gate, but along the way, something sparked the Orange. And it all started with Ward taking command of the game.

With SU up just 38-36, Ward decided enough was enough. She went on a 6-0 run by herself, giving Syracuse its first comfortable lead of the game.

First, she hit a jumper to push the lead to four. On the next possession, she was fouled while slicing to the lane and made the two ensuing free throws.

Finally, back on the defensive end, she took the ball right out of Seton Hall (9-21, 1-16 Big East) forward Letitia Curry’s hands, racing down the other end and putting in an easy layup. Ward and the Orange were fired up, and it forced Pirates head coach Phyllis Mangina to call a timeout right before a media timeout was scheduled.

‘Definitely, Juanita was real aggressive,’ SU junior guard Erica Morrow said. ‘She was what we needed.’

And in the absence of Michael, SU’s all-time leading scorer and rebounder, Ward also took command of her team. Michael is the usual voice of leadership in the SU locker room, and Ward stepped up to fill that void Friday as well.

Morrow said Ward’s guidance of the team Friday was the most active she’s ever seen Ward in that role.

‘She was actually being more vocal than she’s ever been since I’ve played with her,’ Morrow said. ‘And that’s definitely a positive for us because we need to communicate and work together as a team. I think she stepped up really big for us.’

And all day, she was one of SU’s players Mangina just didn’t have an answer for. She was part of the Orange onslaught on the boards that Hillsman ultimately felt was the difference in his team winning the game.

With the help of Ward and freshman Carmen Tyson-Thomas, SU out-rebounded the Pirates 58-35. And that included 28 offensive rebounds, five of which came from Ward. It led to easy buckets underneath the basket and accounted for 17 second-chance points.

‘I thought she was outstanding,’ Mangina said. ‘I thought her getting to the rim was really important for them. She got on the boards a bit, too. … I thought she really tried to step her game up when Michael wasn’t there.’

With the win, the No. 9 seed Syracuse will now take on eighth-seeded Providence on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the second round of the Big East tournament. Michael’s status is still uncertain for that game.

But with or without Michael, Ward knows what she has to do.

‘Coach always says that if someone’s down, help them up,’ Ward said. ‘That’s part of being a team. … That’s what I did today.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on March 5, 2010 at 12:00 pm