For Quentin Hillsman and the Syracuse women’s basketball team, the team’s game against Cincinnati Saturday came down to one question:

To foul or not to foul?

Hillsman chose the latter and let the Bearcats play out of an inbounds pass with 4.6 seconds on the clock. Five seconds later, the team watched in disbelief as Cincinnati’s Shareese Ulis drained a 3-pointer to send the game to overtime.

Ulis’ trey turned the tide of momentum to the Bearcats’ side Saturday afternoon, and Cincinnati took over in the extra session en route to a 66-62 overtime win over the Orange in front of 1,092 at the Carrier Dome, wiping out a gutsy second-half comeback by the Orange (18-7, 5-7 Big East).

‘I don’t think they got the first look they wanted,’ Hillsman said of his decision not to foul Ulis. ‘At the second look away from the basket and it’s a second or under. At that point you just play because you know she is looking for a shot. So you almost can’t foul at that point when she is away from the basket.’

The deciding play in regulation that shifted momentum back to the Bearcats’ side started with 4.6 seconds left on the clock after an over-the-back foul call on SU guard Carmen Tyson-Thomas. Ulis said the play was supposed to go to guard Kahla Roudebush, but when that broke down, Ulis was more than happy to oblige.

After Ulis missed a 3-pointer on Cincinnati’s previous possession, she wanted the ball back. But she said she didn’t believe the Orange would foul her, especially after she missed her last attempt.

‘No, actually, I didn’t think they were going to foul me,’ Ulis said. ‘I thought they were just going to let me shoot.’

After its first option was thrown away, Cincinnati (11-12, 4-7 Big East) went to Ulis, who improvised. Amidst the frantic activity around the basket with Ulis dribbling around frenetically looking for a shot, Hillsman and the team thought it best to let the scene play out.

‘She made a great play down the stretch,’ SU guard Erica Morrow said of Ulis’ shot. ‘I tried to get out there and pressure the ball, but she just made a great shot.’

The loss wiped away an SU comeback from a 13-point second-half deficit with a little more than nine minutes left in the game. The comeback was led by forward Nicole Michael, as she and the rest of the Orange finally started to sense the magnitude of the game.

It also continued the team’s woes in close games this season. SU is now 0-5 in games decided by five points or fewer, all of them Big East conference games.

In three of those games, the Orange has had late leads in the Dome in the final seconds. Against St. John’s, SU had a one-point lead before a crucial turnover by Morrow swung momentum to the Red Storm. Facing then-No. 3 Notre Dame, the Orange held a late two-point advantage before the Fighting Irish’s Ashley Barlow hit a late 3-pointer.

And on Saturday, SU rallied in the second half to hold a three-point advantage near the end, only to see that lead evaporate like the others.

‘It’s getting tougher and tougher to explain these things,’ Hillsman said. ‘You have the game in your hand and you just fold again. It’s just tough.’

The game once again left Hillsman searching for answers as his team prepares to face its toughest stretch of the season, clinging to its NCAA Tournament life by the slimmest of threads.

As part of its last four games, SU will travel to Rutgers next weekend, with home games against No. 1 Connecticut and No. 9 West Virginia not far behind.

‘It’s hard to explain,’ Hillsman said before listing the statistical categories in which SU topped the Bearcats on Saturday.

The Orange held the rebounding edge, 50 to 39. SU shot better from the field. It also had fewer turnovers and more assists.

But perhaps the loss could be explained, for better or worse, by one decision.

To foul or not to foul.

‘(The play) could go either way,’ Hillsman said. ‘We could have fouled, and maybe we would have been OK. She could have missed it, and we would have been OK. Hindsight is 20-20, and you just don’t know what these situations are.’

bplogiur@syr.edu

Published on February 14, 2010 at 12:00 pm