Quentin Hillsman didn’t sleep too well Saturday night.

Around 3 a.m., the Syracuse women’s basketball head coach woke up in a panic, suddenly concerned his team wasn’t ready for its game against Northeastern later that afternoon.

Coming off an emotional blowout win over Penn State on Thursday, Hillsman foresaw the possibility of a letdown.

‘I got out of bed, watched some more tape, and I was worried,’ Hillsman said. ‘You can’t get comfortable. People get in trouble when they’re comfortable.’

Turned out he really had nothing to worry about.

The Orange continued right where it left off Sunday in a dominating 79-46 victory over the Huskies in front of 523 fans in the Carrier Dome, marking the best start for Syracuse (7-1) since the 1997-98 season. Junior college transfer Chandrea Jones led the way, contributing a game-high 18 points and 14 rebounds to propel SU to its sixth consecutive win.

It didn’t take long for Jones to make her mark on the contest. She received the opening tip won by center Vaida Sipaviciute, dribbled into the frontcourt and pulled up for a short jumper to give Syracuse the lead six seconds into the game. Less than two minutes later, Jones came back down the court and drilled a 3-pointer.

On the ensuing Northeastern possession, Jones let everybody know it was her night. Off a missed Huskies shot, she ripped down the rebound and turned her head upcourt. Instead of slowing the play down or looking for an outlet, Jones dribbled furiously to the basket beating everybody to the other end and knocking down a shot in the paint, sending the entire Syracuse bench into a frenzy.

Northeastern called a timeout, but it was already too late. The Orange jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the contest’s first three minutes, and Jones had already scored seven points. Clearly shocked by Syracuse’s explosive start, the Huskies never brought the deficit smaller than seven the rest of the way.

‘Chandrea is a very talented player, and I never worry about her getting out of the gate,’ Hillsman said. ‘If she stays aggressive, and she can shoot the ball, she is going to score, and she is going to score in bunches.’

And that’s exactly what she did. At halftime, Jones had 14 points and 10 boards for her second consecutive double-double and third of the season. She leads SU with 14.6 points and 9.25 rebounds per game.

But Jones wasn’t the only player contributing to a complete offensive effort by Syracuse. During pre-game, the Orange realized Northeastern’s tallest regular, six-foot-one Kendra Walton, was unavailable and looked to take advantage with its considerable size advantage. With Walton out of the lineup, Northeastern head coach Daynia La-Force Mann started a four-guard lineup with no player taller than 5-foot-11.

Whenever Jones wasn’t slashing to the hoop and scoring, Syracuse’s inside players took charge in the paint. Forward Fantasia Goodwin tallied 12 points, and Sipavicitute and forward Vionca Murray both added 11. Syracuse scored 40 points in the paint, just six fewer than Northeastern scored all game.

‘Coming into the game, I felt like they were a little undersized, and I jst took advantage of it,’ Murray said. ‘I was confident going to the basket, and I knew I could make shots.’

Northeastern head coach La-Force Mann constantly switched around her defense from zone to man-to-man, even trying a zone press for a little while, but none of the sets could stop the Orange’s offensive barrage.

Against the zone, Syracuse finally broke out its outside game for the first time all year, shooting 7-of-13 from 3-point territory. Freshman guard Erica Morrow connected three times from deep for all nine of her points.

When Northeastern went into the man, Goodwin, Sipaviciute and Murray had their way inside, bullying the much smaller defenders to the basket for easy scores.

And if neither worked, Jones just took it herself.

‘When were in zone, they lit it up from the perimeter, and when were in man, they pounded it inside,’ La-Force Mann said. ‘That’s what a good team is. They’re a very good team … and I think they’re going to be a very good team in the Big East this year.’

Published on December 14, 2007 at 12:00 pm