Leave it to Quentin Hillsman to find the silver lining in his team’s last three games.

In that stretch, Syracuse (21-6, 9-5) went 2-1 against three teams with a combined 23-30 record, two of which were ranked dead last in the conference when they faced the Orange.

The loss to Providence is the Friars’ only win in their last 11 games.

Even the wins were anything but easy. It took a comeback from a 12-point deficit for SU to beat last place Cincinnati at home. And if it wasn’t for an improbable late 3 from Erica Morrow, SU would have been swept by 4-9 Georgetown.

So if Syracuse is struggling against teams in the Big East basement, that doesn’t bode well for its visit to powerhouse No. 4 Rutgers (23-4, 13-1) Saturday at 1 p.m., right?

Wrong, says Hillsman.

‘If we’re playing to where our competition is, then we should probably play pretty good against Rutgers,’ Hillsman said.

Throughout the stretch, Hillsman has avoided saying his team plays to the level of its opponents. He points to the top-to-bottom strength of the Big East and his young team as reasons for the team’s recent struggles.

Nicole Michael, though, will come right out and say it.

‘Mentally, we just play to other teams’ levels,’ forward Nicole Michael said. ‘I don’t understand why we do that. I think that’s a team habit that we need to change. So we just have to play our level all the time.’

The numbers are hard to argue with: The team is 5-3 in its last eight games, decided by an average of six points against teams with a combined .582 winning percentage. Compare that to SU’s first six Big East contests, it was 4-2 against teams with a combined .714 winning percentage.

‘I guess the one good thing about this that I really don’t think our kids looked past the lower-rated teams in our conference,’ Hillsman said. ‘But I guess there’s no chance of doing that against Rutgers, right? Everybody knows who Rutgers is, and everyone knows how good they are, so the beauty of this game is we know who and what we’re dealing with.’

After all, if Syracuse is playing to the level of its opponents, then this is where it should pay off. Bad games against bad teams, good games against good teams. And Rutgers is undoubtedly a good team, winners of 18 of 20, including a Feb. 5 unseeding of then-undefeated Connecticut.

So Hillsman is hoping his team will return to the form it had when it came within six points of knocking off then-No. 1 Connecticut on Jan. 15, and played one of its best games of the year.

‘I think we definitely come out with a different level of intensity, which I think is natural out of a young team, Hillsman said. ‘You understand who you play, you understand Rutgers, they’re one of the top teams in the country. I think we’ll come out playing pretty well with intensity.’

The knowledge of what her and her teammates are capable of is a source of motivation for Michael going into Saturday. With the exception of an early-season blowout loss at North Carolina, Syracuse has played tight games against No. 16 Notre Dame and No. 23 DePaul, a game which the Orange won on the road.

‘When we play tougher teams we do play tougher, stronger,’ Michael said.

From there, the Orange follows up with a Monday game against No. 13 West Virginia in the Dome, its last game of the regular season. But regardless of how the next few games play out, Hillsman is confident his team is in a good position heading into the postseason. With 21 wins, the Orange has the inside track for its first NCAA Tournament berth in six years.

‘I think that 21 wins and the quality of wins that we’ve had should definitely be enough to get into the tournament,’ Hillsman said. ‘When you think about the teams that we’ve beaten this year, we’ve beaten some good teams. So, personally I think that we have enough quality wins to get in.’

kbaustin@syr.edu

Published on February 29, 2008 at 12:00 pm