Between The Lines
3/25/2011 10:01:58 AM | Women's Basketball, Men's Lacrosse
Trivia Question (Postseason Edition): How many overtime goals has Stephen Keogh scored in his Syracuse career?
Your Questions: Want them answered? Send me a tweet @BrianHigginsSU.
This week: Survive and Advance aka Iasia Hemingway. One and the same this week for the women's basketball team's WNIT run. Iasia's 14 points and career high 17 rebounds seemed impressive in Monday's reasonably easy second-round 13-point win against St. Bonaventure.
Then came Thursday night and the third-round matchup with Eastern Michigan. In a game where Syracuse trailed for a grand total of a minute and 38 seconds, but never led by more than nine, Iasia's career-high 29 points all proved vital. After the game Coach Q's praise for his junior was simple yet all inclusive. “Iasia was a monster. She really came up big and pulled the game out for us.”
While Thursday's obvious credit belongs to Iasia, the play(s) of the game were provided by Elashier Hall. Beginning with 4:13 to go and Syracuse clinging to a 63-61 lead, Lacey first ended an Eastern Michigan possession with a defensive rebound. By the time the Orange's next possession was over, 3:39 remained on the clock, Hemingway had stretched the lead to 65-61 on a pair of free throws, and Lacey had snagged three possession-extending offensive rebounds to set it all up.
In Q's eyes Lacey's effort on that one possession epitomized his team's desire to win all night. “That was one big possession. That was huge because she kept getting the ball, she kept getting the ball, and she just refused to take a back seat. That was all heart, desire, and refusing to lose. That's what we did. We just refused to lose in that game.”
From down one with 5:16 left, to winning by nine. A 12-2 game ending run has Syracuse in the WNIT quarterfinals for the second straight year.
Higgo's Hero: Stephen Keogh. If I may quote myself on Steve's week of lacrosse, “There's the man who wins games!” What a week for the senior from Toronto. In the span of eight days Steve ended Georgetown's upset bid in Baltimore and Johns Hopkins' upset hopes in the Dome, both in overtime.
His coach was surprised -- sort of. “It's almost surprising in some ways because he's no secret, “John Desko said. “It's been four years of doing things like this. Other teams have devised defenses where they put a short stick on him and they won't leave him. Many situations in a fast break they don't want him to be finishing the ball, they'd rather let one of the other players shoot the ball. So for him in the two games to come up with the winning goals in overtime has been pretty miraculous as far as his ability to get himself open and then finish the ball after he does get open.”
When the second overtime began this past Saturday our hero knew it would be over shortly. “The thing is with our team, when we're that close there's no doubt in our mind. That faceoff against Hopkins I kind of looked at Jeremy (Thompson). I said Jeremy this is you. He kind of gave the Jeremy smile, a little smirk, so I knew he was getting it.”
After that what looked like a basketball play was really just ripped from the pages of box lacrosse. “Growing up playing box, it's pretty much all pick and rolls. We've been actually incorporating that into our offense this year and Jeremy and I have been doing it a lot in practice.”
A simple pick a role perfectly executed, led to a great goal, and a sixth win for the undefeated and undisputed top-ranked team in the country. But without Keogh's overtime magic 6-0 could easily be 4-2. That's why Steve is this week's hero.
Nike/Inside Lacrosse Media Poll: As mentioned previously, I vote in the weekly Inside Lacrosse media top 20 poll. Just for kicks here's what I turned in this past Sunday night before #8 killed #10 and #16 lost earlier this week. Who knows what else shall happen before the next reconfiguration this Sunday. It's been a wild season so far with few constants besides the Orange.
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1.
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Syracuse
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2.
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Virginia
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3.
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Notre Dame
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4.
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Duke
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5.
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Maryland
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6.
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Hofstra
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7.
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Army
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8.
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Cornell
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9.
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Denver
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10.
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Stony Brook
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11.
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Villanova
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12.
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Harvard
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13.
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Johns Hopkins
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14.
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North Carolina
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15.
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Penn
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16.
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Albany
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17.
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UMass
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18.
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Yale
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19.
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Bucknell
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20.
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Drexel
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Trivia Answer: Three. On top of his two OT tallies this month, Steve knocked off Hobart last season in Geneva. The weather that March Tuesday night was blustery to put it politely, with an aggressive sideways wintery mix to be accurate. Statesman goalie Max Silberlicht's 23 saves were spectacular, but not enough, as Keogh popped in the first overtime winner of his career.
Coach Jack Media Availability | NCAA Tournament Selection
Monday, March 16
NCAA Tournament Selection Show Reaction
Monday, March 16
Postgame Press Conference vs. Louisville - ACC 3rd Round
Saturday, March 07
Postgame Press Conference vs. Louisville - ACC 3rd Round
Friday, March 06
