Quentin Hillsman didn’t necessarily expect to play a zone for the entire game Thursday night.

Syracuse’s head coach knew Penn State boasted a starting lineup with four players averaging more than 12 points and was less than a week removed from shooting 54 percent in a surprising upset over No. 17 Duke. Here was a major offensive force – he would need to mix it up.

The game plan was to stay with the 2-3 – traditionally a defense susceptive to 3-point shots – until the Nittany Lions started hurting the Orange from the high post and behind the arc. When deep threats like Kam Gissendanner and Brianne O’Rourke caught fire from the perimeter, the Orange would switch into a man-on-man to slow them down.

So much for the game plan.

Syracuse used a swarming zone defense for 40 minutes in its 72-53 blowout win over Penn State Thursday in one of the biggest victories in recent SU history. The Nittany Lions, a team averaging more than 72 points per game for the season – managed a measly 18 first-half points and never competed with an SU squad clicking on all cylinders.

When the teams went into the locker room at halftime, Penn State had shot 21.4 percent (6-for-28) from the field and already trailed by 17.

Though it wasn’t the lowest point total Syracuse has allowed this year – SU surrendered only 26 to lowly Colgate on Nov. 28 – it was undoubtedly the strongest defensive effort of the season thus far against a team known for its scoring threats.

‘Coach just emphasized ball pressure,’ SU guard Erica Morrow said. ‘When you pressure the ball, you kinda mess up what they’re trying to do, they can’t run their plays. You just have to mess them up a little bit.’

Perhaps Syracuse’s perimeter defense was most impressive, especially in the first half. Penn State entered the game shooting 38 percent from 3-point range but struggled mightily from long range on Thursday. The Nittany Lions missed their first 13 treys, including nine before halftime, finishing the game 2-for-17.

Penn State head coach Coquese Washington declined comment after the game through a spokeswoman.

Freshman guards Morrow and Tasha Harris tenaciously roamed the perimeter for most of the first half, jumping out on any potential shooter. Whenever a Penn State player spotted up for a 3, one of the guards had a hand in her face. If they were too slow or out of position, one of the post defenders like Nicole Michael or Chandrea Jones stepped up with the pressure.

O’Rourke and Tyra Grant entered the game averaging 13 and 15 points, respectively, to lead PSU. On Thursday, the duo scored seven points each on a combined 5-of-20 from the floor.

‘We just wanted to make sure we defended out on the shooters, and they shot 2-for-17,’ Hillsman said. ‘We were ready at any minute to get out of (the zone), but they kept missing and missing, so I said, ‘Well, I guess we’ll stay in it a little longer.”

Granted, it wasn’t all Syracuse’s defense that led to Penn State’s shooting struggles. The Nittany Lions did have open looks throughout the game but failed to convert, especially in the first half.

Penn State didn’t score its first field goal until the 14:45 mark of the first half. When it finally hit its first 3-pointer with a little more than two minutes to play, PSU was trailing by 24 and the game was well out of reach.

Even Hillsman was surprised how poorly the Nittany Lions shot but continued to praise his team’s defensive effort.

‘Our defense was so good today that they opened up, and they were surprised just like I was because we were playing flawless defense,’ Hillsman said.

To call the defense flawless may be hyperbole, but probably not by much. In addition to keeping Penn State’s shooters down, Syracuse forced 21 turnovers resulting in 23 points.

Whether or not Hillsman uses a zone exclusively from now on remains to be seen, but Thursday proved one thing: This 2-3 zone can compete even against top competition.

‘We said we would stay in the zone for as long as we should,’ Hillsman said. ‘…We did a very good job of getting over the shooter. We did a very good job recognizing who could shoot the ball and who couldn’t.’

Published on December 7, 2007 at 12:00 pm