With five minutes left in the first half of Friday’s Syracuse-Niagara women’s basketball game, everything was going the Purple Eagles’ way.

The Orange saw its early nine-point lead turn into a seven-point deficit. SU’s shooting was off and its passing sloppy. Niagara seemed to make shots without regard to the Syracuse defense.

Then Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki made a seemingly innocent substitution.

Enter forward Jill Norton. Although seeing only four minutes in the first half, Norton’s inside presence single handedly changed the game’s momentum and helped SU to a 62-57 win.

‘Jill came in and gave us huge minutes,’ Cieplicki said. ‘I’m thrilled with the post. The bottom line is we want to pound the ball inside. Jill comes in and we have four legitimate players inside.’

Although Norton was held scoreless in the second half, her six points and four rebounds in the first half allowed the Orange to break its skid and take a two-point lead into halftime.

Her seven total rebounds were not easy ones either. Niagara often sent two or three players crashing to the boards and Norton still managed to come up with the ball.

No one played bigger than Norton when the Orange needed it. Until her entrance, Syracuse chose to abandon the inside game and unleash a barrage of ill-advised 3-point shots. SU shot only 12 percent beyond the 3-point arc.

But with Norton, Syracuse began to pass the ball inside more. Norton’s success in the paint set the tone for the second half. The once confused SU offense found Niagara’s weakness.

‘We kept trying to emphasize to the players to find a way to get it in there,’ Cieplicki said. ‘Let the post players touch the ball. When they do, good things happen.’

Good things did happen. SU continued to pass the ball inside with much success. While the Purple Eagles tried to stick with the Orange, Syracuse’s height advantage was too much.

And Norton was a big part of that. While she was limited to a small role off the bench, Norton made the most of her time on the floor.

‘I’m trying to come in and help the team how I can,’ Norton said. ‘I take what I can get. Whether I’m cheering on the team from the side, scoring, boxing out and getting rebounds. I just want to win.’

Published on November 19, 2004 at 12:00 pm