Every time Quentin Hillsman turned toward Syracuse’s bench and readjusted his gold and black rimmed glasses in frustration, it was almost a given the Orange head coach would make a substitution.

When Cornelia Fondren committed a turnover, in came Alexis Peterson. Taylor Ford threw a poor pass out of bounds, and in came Isabella Slim.

On Sunday at the Carrier Dome in the No. 24 Orange’s (1-0) season-opening 59-42 victory over Fordham (0-2), SU used a fluid rotation of 11 players, with nine playing more than 10 minutes. At times, some players didn’t play more than a minute or two at once.

“We handled it well,” said Fondren, who re-entered the starting lineup Sunday after starting 31-of-32 games her freshman season and not starting any of the 30 games she played last season. “Everybody came in and did what they were supposed to do. We adjusted very well.”

Syracuse’s first seven points were scored by reserves Ford and Bria Day. Ford, who checked in for Slim just a minute and 21 seconds into the game, connected on a 3 from the left wing and added two free throws to give the Orange an early 5-2 lead. Day, who checked in for sister Briana at the 17:48 mark, made a layup to extend SU’s lead to 7-2.

Syracuse subbed 31 times in the first half. With Ford and Briana Day both picking up two quick fouls, Fondren played a wing position in the back of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, much like she did at times last season.

After committing a turnover at the 11:20 mark of the first half, Fondren was replaced by freshman point guard Daniele Minott. But exactly one minute later, Hillsman called for Minott to sub out, prompting Fondren to start jogging toward the scorer’s table. But Hillsman tapped guard Maggie Morrison to enter the game.

Just 29 seconds later, Fondren did come in to replace Alexis Peterson.

With eight minutes to go in the half and the score tied at 10, the Bulls ran a full-court press and forced Fondren into her second turnover of the game. Hillsman let off a sheepish smile, and yelled for “Petey” to re-enter. Moments after checking in, the sophomore hit a pull-up jumper to give the Orange a 12-10 lead.

After the game, Fondren said she doesn’t mind Hillsman’s quick substitutions.

“I know somebody else is going to come in and do better,” she said.

SU subbed 16 times in the second half as the Orange continued to extend its lead.

Four players –Morrison, Diamond Henderson, Amber Witherspoon and Minott – made their SU debuts off the bench. Henderson, a transfer from Tennessee Tech, finished with seven points in 11 minutes.

Said Hillsman of his team’s use of the quick rotation: “It was a little sloppy in the first half, but I thought they did a good job.”

Published on November 16, 2014 at 5:26 pm

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu