No matter how devastating the loss, Syracuse women’s basketball head coach Keith Cieplicki finds something positive out of every game.

After Syracuse’s 72-53 loss to St. John’s on Saturday, Cieplicki’s opening statement in his press conference highlighted the reality that the Orange has regressed throughout the season.

‘There have been a lot of games this year where we say it’s too bad that the final score doesn’t indicate the closeness of the game,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I don’t think the final score indicates that we were just really never in it. Maybe it all caught up with us. I think our players want to win. But wow, I don’t think we had it today.’

Cieplicki highlighted Cintia Johnson’s 12-point performance and Vaida Sipaviciute’s 10 points. He also mentioned SU’s willingness to hustle even when the Red Storm built a double-digit lead early. But whether it was an aberration or a reflection of the season, SU played much worse than it showed during its recent losses. A second-half ankle injury to guard Mary Joe Riley didn’t help.

At 2-12 in the Big East, Syracuse has the fewest conference wins since 1993-1994. In games against conference powers Notre Dame, Louisville and Connecticut, the Orange displayed surprising poise against all Top 25 teams. The opposing teams clearly had the dominant hand, but SU flirted with an upset in the first half of each game.

On Saturday, St. John’s decided the outcome within the first few minutes. The Red Storm stormed to a 12-4 lead in the first 4:43 minutes. Against the Huskies, the Orange responded from its 12-4 deficit by holding them scoreless for seven minutes and going into halftime with a 23-20 lead.

The opposite happened on Saturday when St. John’s used quick perimeter passing to create 13 3-point attempts. In the first half, the Red Storm shot 5-of-10 from the perimeter and entered the locker room holding a comfortable 41-20 edge over Syracuse.

‘I think sometimes we settle for the first open shot,’ St. John’s head coach Kim Barnes Arico said. ‘But we knew if we really executed and moved the ball a little bit better, we would get a better shot. We would also use some of the shot clock.’

By spreading the ball around, four St. John’s starters scored double figures. Tara Walker (19 points), Angela Clark (13), Greeba Barlow (12) and Danielle Chambers (10) made the Orange’s defensive responsibilities more difficult. St. John’s didn’t commit a turnover in the first half, which limited SU’s already stagnant offense.

But it’s been that type of season for Cieplicki. After a 6-21 record his first year, Cieplicki improved to 13-16 in 2004-2005, advancing to the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament after upsetting sixth-seeded Georgetown. But this season, SU stands in last place in the Big East. The best the Orange can do is tie for last place with Georgetown, Providence and Seton Hall with a win. If SU loses, it will have finish in last place.

‘They have got a lot of threats out there,’ Cieplicki said. ‘So you have to play everybody. It stretches the defense out. They came out and made a lot of shots in the first half. Whew, it felt a little bit like the old days. We were just trying to survive out there.’

Published on February 26, 2006 at 12:00 pm