Thirty-five minutes before Syracuse’s game against North Carolina on Feb. 5, SU guard Brianna Butler jogged onto the court for an individual pregame shooting session.

Wearing a blue warm-up shirt and her white game shorts, Butler took the court before any of her teammates or opponents. It wasn’t just because Syracuse held a 0-7 record against Top 25 opponents and needed a resume booster. For Butler, it was more so being frustrated about how many shots she was missing.

At that point in the season, Butler had shot an identical 29 percent from inside the arc and beyond it.

“I needed to make some type of change,” Butler said.

Although she shot 2-of-21 from the field and 0-of-14 from 3 that night against the Tar Heels, Syracuse’s second-leading scorer has enjoyed a resurgence since, shooting 39 percent from the field and 35 percent from 3 for the No. 23 Orange (20-8, 10-5 Atlantic Coast), which is one more game away from the postseason.

“It’s been really frustrating when you’re shooting as many and not making as many as you did last year,” Butler said. “It’s definitely been hard to deal with all those misses. The UNC game was definitely hard for me.

“Now getting back on the right track and getting back to how I used to play, it’s definitely reassuring.”

Though she’s not sure when, Butler started her altered pregame routine sometime around the team’s road trip to Louisville and Florida State from Jan. 29 through Feb. 2. The warm-up isn’t about getting a certain amount of shots or a certain amount of makes, but about “getting in the mindset of the game.”

At the beginning of the season, Butler was swarmed by defenders who last year primarily focused on Brittney Sykes. But with Sykes having played only three games this season because of a torn ACL, defenses have keyed on Butler. Most of her 3-point attempts have been either contested or step-back looks.

But despite individual-game stat lines of 2-of-12, 2-of-14 and 2-of-13, SU head coach Quentin Hillman has echoed his catchphrase that Butler has a “neon green light” to shoot whenever she wants. And regardless of if she shoots poorly or efficiently, Hillsman always says she should shoot more.

“She continues to work on her shot and she really continues to try to make us a better team by making shots for us,” Hillsman said after Butler scored 20 first-half points against Boston College on Thursday. “That’s why I’m so adamant in defending her and adamant that she keeps shooting.”

Against Virginia Tech on Feb. 15, Butler knocked down a 3-pointer to bring the Orange to within two points with 3:23 to go in regulation. She then made a 3 with 1:39 to go to give the Orange a 53-51 lead, and Syracuse beat the Hokies, 59-51, with a 16-1 run to close the game.

In SU’s next game, against Boston College on Feb. 19, Butler came out and hit her first six 3-point attempts, the fifth of which broke the school’s record for all-time 3-pointers made.

“She’s used to this,” SU point guard Alexis Peterson said after the game. “She’s played this role since she’s gotten here … I know it’s big for her and big for our team when we have Bri clicking on all cylinders. You want to get her the ball. You want her to keep shooting. And she did.”

Multiple times this season, Butler has talked about not being afraid to shoot even if she continues to miss. She needs to keep a shooter’s mentality, she says.

And finally, her fortune has turned around and her shots are beginning to fall just as the ACC tournament approaches.

“Once you start hitting shots it’s pretty easy to get the rest of them,” Butler said. “You feel confident. You get that muscle memory back and you’re able to just knock them down.”

Published on February 25, 2015 at 12:12 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu