HAMILTON, N.Y.- Sitting on the bottom row of metal bleachers just a few minutes after Wednesday’s game, Fantasia Goodwin couldn’t help but compare herself to another imposing low-post presence.

‘I felt like Shaq out there,’ Goodwin said. ‘It was a lot of confidence, too. I like playing at the rim and playing down low. So I had a lot of strength and a lot of advantage because smaller players were guarding me, so I just tried to take advantage of that.’

Virtually every time Goodwin touched the ball in the paint, she’d make one quick, low-post move for a tough layup. If another player missed a shot, Goodwin was there to grab the offensive rebound for an easy put-back.

So maybe it wasn’t hyperbole to compare herself to Shaquille O’Neal, the Miami Heat’s gigantic and charismatic future hall-of-famer. All she needs to do is grow about a foot.

Goodwin scored a career-high 25 points and led the team with 13 rebounds in Syracuse’s impressive 75-26 victory over Colgate (1-4) on Wednesday night in front of a small crowd at Cotterell Court in Hamilton, N.Y. It was the least amount of points Syracuse (3-1) has allowed in a game since Dec. 9, 1978, when it gave up 25 to Oneonta, and the largest margin of victory in a decade.

Goodwin, who narrowly broke her previous career-high record of 24 set last December, wasn’t the only one contributing on the offensive end. Eleven of the 12 players to enter the game notched at least one point for the Orange, with freshman guard Erica Morrow the only other to tally double digits.

Syracuse dominated every statistical category on both ends of the floor, overmatching its undersized and overwhelmed opponent, especially around the rim. Overall, Syracuse out-rebounded Colgate, 59-33, but especially controlled the offensive glass, winning that battle, 23-9.

All night long, the paint belonged to Goodwin, who grabbed six offensive rebounds and accounted for 10 field goals, all of which came from inside the key. Syracuse needed that kind of production from a big body underneath because it once again struggled from beyond the arc, shooting 3-for-16 (18.8 percent).

But despite his team’s problems from deep, all SU head coach Quentin Hillsman could talk about after the game was his squad’s offensive outburst.

‘I always tell them we can be a very good basketball team if we take proper shots, take good shots and pressure the ball,’ Hillsman said. ‘I think that tonight we kinda put that whole game plan together.

It didn’t look quite so easy at the beginning of the ballgame, as both teams came out flat. Syracuse missed its first four field goals and a committed a pair of turnovers in the contest’s first three minutes. With the game still scoreless at the 16:59 mark, Hillsman decided to replace his entire starting lineup for five fresh reserves.

Two seconds after play resumed, junior guard Cintia Johnson streaked to the basket and drew a foul, converting both free throws. From there, the Orange wouldn’t look back.

Hillsman went back to his original lineup two minutes later with the game tied at two and watched his team begin its onslaught.

‘I didn’t think they were necessarily playing poorly,’ Hillsman said. ‘I just thought we need a change of pace, get them off the court, let them calm down, get them back in the game so we can play.’

But when Syracuse really started to open its lead, it was Goodwin, not a starter, connecting with yet another bucket. Goodwin played just 23 minutes, but she made the most of every second on the floor.

In 10 minutes of action in the first half, she scored nine points. In the second half, she looked unstoppable, scoring 16 and helping Syracuse continue to extend its lead to as high as 49 points. In one two-minute stretch, she scored eight consecutive points for the Orange, widening the gap to 41.

For one night, at least, the self-dubbed ‘Shaq’ made an appearance for the Orange – and Goodwin doesn’t think Wednesday was a one-night engagement.

‘I always feel like Shaq,’ Goodwin said. ‘I’m Shaq in shootaround, I’m Shaq in practice, I’m Shaq every time. You can call me Shaq whenever.’

Published on November 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm