The waiting game was brutal enough for Syracuse, and ESPN analyst Kara Lawson’s awkwardly funny player descriptions didn’t make the suspenseful atmosphere any more comforting.

The Orange sat through the announcement of the first three full regions, as highlights of the national powerhouses rolled. Small seeds of doubt grew in some of the minds of the players that SU’s name wouldn’t be called, but relaxed head coach Quentin Hillsman knew his team had the necessary resume.

And finally the Orange heard its name announced in the South Bend Region.

“Heck yeah, it was painful to wait,” sophomore Brittney Sykes said. “It’s kind of funny because half of the team didn’t even know who we were playing at first when they called our name, because they said Syracuse was a sixth seed and we all just started screaming. I know I was one of them.”

For the first time in school history, Syracuse is returning to the NCAA Tournament in consecutive seasons. The Orange (22-9, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) earned a No. 6 seed, which ties the program’s best, and will face 11th-seeded Chattanooga on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. in Lexington, Ky.

But the most important piece of SU history the team hopes to eradicate is the goose egg that sits in the Orange’s all-time win column in the NCAA Tournament.

“I want it so bad. Probably as much as I want a degree,” senior point guard Rachel Coffey said.

A year ago, the seventh-seeded Orange was knocked out in the first round by No. 10 seed Creighton, which advanced after a five-point win. Syracuse’s senior class left without a Tournament victory, and the possibility of the same fate transferred to the shoulders of this year’s group of seniors.

But now, the Orange has Tournament experience under its belt.

“We’re excited. It’s just good to be going back to the Tournament,” Hillsman said. “It’s good to have a team that went last year going back again so we know what to expect.

“We had freshmen playing on a very big stage and obviously now we have sophomores and a couple of seniors that can help step in and contribute.”

Through a game and a half of ACC tournament play, Syracuse appeared to be on pace to make serious noise in its first tournament in the league.

SU defeated Clemson by 10 in the opening game and had No. 14 North Carolina State on its heels. The Orange led by as many as nine points, but a 25-1 Wolfpack run coincided with 16 consecutive Syracuse misses and N.C. State sailed to a 16-point win.

But since that March 7 loss, Hillsman said, the Orange has hammered out its own issues. Now it’s time to study up on Chattanooga.

Neither Coffey nor Sykes had any insight on the Mocs immediately after the selection show, but Hillsman said Chattanooga’s a balanced, well-coached team. But by the time tipoff comes around Saturday, he said, his team will know too much about the Mocs.

After Syracuse’s matchup was announced Monday night and Hillsman had received a congratulatory phone call from SU Director of Athletics Daryl Gross, he turned to his team in the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center.

“Congratulations, y’all,” he said to his team. “Let’s go get this ‘W.’ Let’s get it.”

Published on March 18, 2014 at 12:31 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb