Keith Cieplicki knew what was coming.

He drilled the Syracuse women’s basketball team at Tuesday’s practice by simulating Miami’s full-court press, which averaged a conference-best 22.4 forced turnovers. But nothing could prepare the Orangewomen for the real thing.

The No. 22 Hurricanes forced Syracuse into committing a season-high 20 turnovers, and UM shot more than 50 percent from the field en route to an 85-65 victory last night at Manley Field House.

‘I was very impressed with (Miami),’ head coach Keith Cieplicki said. ‘They gave themselves the opportunity for us to break down. That’s why I have to credit them. In terms of our opponents this year, this was one of the most well-played games, opponentwise, that I have experienced in the league.’

The Orangewomen came out shooting well in the first half, thanks in part to three consecutive 3-pointers from point guard Julie McBride. Syracuse even seemed to have Miami’s press figured out, as the Orangewomen zipped passes across the court to set up several two-on-one advantages.

But after holding a brief 11-10 lead with 14:26 left in the first half, SU’s open lanes were quickly blocked by green jerseys. In a span of less than two minutes, the Hurricanes forced five straight Orangewomen turnovers and saw their 21-20 lead blossom into a 31-20 advantage.

‘If everybody makes a couple of mistakes,’ Cieplicki said, ‘boy, it catches up with you real fast. And that was a series where Rochelle (Coleman) broke down a little bit and Lauren (Kohn) broke down.’

The Orangewomen would never recover as a result. Despite their best efforts to push the tempo and turn the game into a track meet, the Orangewomen’s first-half tumble provided Miami all it would need to cruise to victory.

It didn’t matter that the Orangewomen would put up the most first-half points they’ve scored all season. They still trailed, 44-35, at intermission. It didn’t matter that they shot a season-high 48.2 percent for the full 40 minutes. Those missed opportunities still plagued them.

‘Turnovers (were the difference),’ said McBride, who scored 31 points but committed nine turnovers. ‘There were a few times in the first half when I turned it over three times in a row, and I was wide open. Those are scores. Those are breakdowns. You can’t have that this late in the season.’

Miami certainly made the most of SU’s generosity. The Hurricanes scored 30 points off SU’s turnovers. But that didn’t surprise the confident Hurricanes, whom UM guard Yalonda McCormick considers one of the best defenses in the Big East.

Miami’s 9-for-17 3-point shooting, on the other hand, did draw praise from head coach Ferne Labati.

‘We don’t usually take 17 3s,’ Labati said. ‘I told our kids that if we could get it inside and kick it back out, that our kids had the green light to shoot.’

Miami did just that at the start of the second half, as Tamara James knocked down two treys and Melissa Knight added one to give Miami a 55-42 lead with 17:16 left. And with Miami continuing to force turnovers with its press and outrebounding SU, 35-25, it gave the Orangewomen little room for a comeback.

‘We haven’t seen a press that much this season,’ center Jill Norton said, ‘so coming out, it was something different. It was something we could have handled if we calmed down a little bit.’

Norton would know, too. With Syracuse falling into another one of its turnover spells midway through the second half, Norton came away with a steal but panicked once she recovered the ball in the open court. Even with Hurricane players retreating from her, Norton frantically tossed a pass in the direction of Coleman and McBride. But neither of the guards expected it, and the ball sailed out of bounds for another SU turnover.

And in that case, no matter what type of preparation the Orangewomen had, it didn’t matter. Sometimes it comes down to simple execution, as Cieplicki always says.

‘We really didn’t make some good decisions,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I say it all the time, and the players laugh at me, but you just don’t want to throw it to the other color. They’re green; we’re white. You throw it to the white team. And I thought we threw it to the green team way too many times tonight. Sometimes it’s really that simple.’

Published on February 18, 2004 at 12:00 pm