Syracuse women ranked for the first time in school history

1/23/2008 4:38 AM

By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer

SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -Quentin Hillsman sure has some magic up his sleeve.

In just his second year as Syracuse women's basketball coach, Hillsman has guided the Orange into uncharted territory - they're ranked for the first time in school history, and they catapulted into the AP Top 25 this week at No. 24 after losing two games in a six-day span.

``It has definitely been a goal for us. It's good to see them rewarded for their efforts,'' Hillsman said Tuesday evening after returning from a recruiting trip to Ohio. ``That's the most important thing.''

Syracuse (15-3, 3-2 Big East) also was voted No. 24 in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches' Poll released Tuesday, another first.

The good news circulated quickly.

``I was on my couch watching a game,'' sophomore forward Nicole Michael said. ``Fantasia (Goodwin) called me and said, '24, 24.' And I'm like, 'What are you talking about?' She said, 'We're No. 24.' She was so happy. We just celebrated, chilled. It means a lot.''

After being just outside the Top 25, Syracuse apparently moved up in the voters' estimation off the strength of an 85-75 loss at No. 19 Pittsburgh and a 65-59 setback at home a week ago to top-ranked Connecticut (18-0). UConn led by just two points with less than 2 minutes to play in what proved to be the Huskies' most difficult game of the season so far. Connecticut won its previous 15 games by an average of 41 points.

``We're excited to be recognized,'' said freshman guard Erica Morrow, who missed a wide-open 3-pointer with 74 seconds left that would have given Syracuse a one-point lead over Connecticut. ``It just makes us hungrier to work harder so we can go up in the rankings. Our goal is to go as far as we can, get better as a team and as a program.''

The Orange opened the season with a 69-65 win against Coppin State, then lost 97-72 at North Carolina, currently ranked No. 3. Syracuse played even with the Tar Heels in the second half, matching their 43 points, then won the next 12 games, a school record.

Among the triumphs in the streak were 72-53 over Penn State, which hadn't lost to Syracuse in 19 years, and 79-56 over conference foe Louisville, which crushed the Orange 98-50 last season.

Syracuse is averaging 73 points and 46 rebounds and limiting opponents to only 59.6 points and 36 rebounds.

That's a far cry from the days of former coach Marianna Freeman, who resigned in March 2003 after posting a 104-174 overall record and a 56-116 mark in the conference.

When the Orange finished 10-18 overall and 3-13 in the Big East in 1999-2000, the team confronted former athletic director Jake Crouthamel. They barged unannounced into his office to deliver a memo signed by all 12 players with a clear message: They were sick of losing and tired of communication breakdowns with Freeman.

The players, which included graduating seniors Erin Pratt and Lorna McPhee even though their college careers were over, stopped short of calling for Freeman's firing. But they made clear their desire for change in a program that hadn't had a winning record in 10 years.

Things didn't improve under Keith Cieplicki, who went 28-55 in three seasons. Cieplicki, a three-time academic All-America player at William & Mary, insisted that his players make the grade academically and suspended four of them for not attending classes.

Two of the players quit and senior Shannon Perry, the only player in school history to have 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 200 assists, never returned to the team after being ruled academically ineligible by the NCAA.

Those dark days have disappeared under Hillsman, who says he doesn't feel any extra pressure with his team's sudden success, especially since his original goal for the season has long since vanished.

``Our goal actually was to go undefeated, but we kind of messed that up early,'' he said with a smile. ``We just want to continue to play good basketball. If we play good basketball, we're going to win our share of games.''

The Orange host St. John's on Saturday afternoon. It's the first game in the Carrier Dome since a school-record crowd for a women's game of 4,221 watched their spirited effort against Connecticut.

``The biggest impact is probably going to be felt in the next couple of days, once we start getting into playing again to make sure we can hold this ranking or even improve it,'' Hillsman said. ``If we keep doing the things we've been doing, we're going to be OK. We've been really playing hard and competing.''