Iasia Hemingway started the season in unfamiliar territory. The Syracuse forward was undoubtedly one of the team’s top returning players on the roster. As a junior, she was a fixture in the starting lineup, led the Orange in rebounding and ran the offense from the high post.

But for the first three games of her senior year, SU head coach Quentin Hillsman had Hemingway watch from the bench as her teammates took the floor for tipoff.

‘Coach (Hillsman) had me coming off the bench for a reason,’ Hemingway said. ‘He stressed that nothing comes easy.

‘And he’s getting me ready for the real world so him having me come off the bench was an honor for me to make me wake up and say, ‘You know what Iasia, nothing’s going to be handed to you so you have to work for it.”

Hemingway did work her way back into the starting lineup, and quickly reestablished herself as a go-to scorer in the high post. Through 17 games this season, Hemingway leads the Orange in scoring with 16.6 points per game to go with a solid seven rebounds per game. The senior caught fire and carried the SU offense over the last seven games, averaging 20.3 points per game.

The senior will look to continue her hot streak when Syracuse (12-5, 1-2 Big East) takes on St. John’s (10-6, 2-1) in the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Though she may not have understood Hillsman’s decision to bring her off the bench at the start of the season, Hemingway is appreciative of it now. She said it opened her eyes and made her work even harder.

‘We had to make sure that people got in their positions and they earned it,’ Hillsman said. ‘I thought that earlier in the preseason, she was a slow starter in the preseason and I think that our culture is work hard and get your minutes.’

During a grueling preseason in which Hillsman installed a new pressure defense, the head coach demanded his players to be faster and stronger. Hemingway struggled with the transition at first, but Hillsman said she put in extra work early in the season to get her minutes and her spot back in the starting lineup.

Still, it wasn’t until the sixth game of the season against Boise State that Hemingway finally broke out. She poured in a career-high 30 points to lead the Orange to an easy 70-47 victory on the road.

For Hemingway, the big performance was inspired by some advice from her mother.

Hemingway said she and her mother talk every day. But right before the Boise State game, Hemingway’s mother called upset with how her daughter played in SU’s previous game, a 90-57 win over Binghamton. Hemingway finished just 1-of-2 from the field for two points in 15 minutes of action.

Her mother told her she wanted to see her daughter begin playing with the same joy she had her entire life.

‘My mom had a lot to do with how I came out,’ Hemingway said. ‘She stressed to me like, ‘Iasia, basketball is fun and it looks like you’re not having fun on the court. You got to get back to what you love to do.”

Hemingway kept that advice in mind before facing Boise State, and used it as motivation throughout the game. She has only built on that performance, eclipsing her career mark twice with 31 against Colgate and 33 to lead Syracuse to its first Big East win over Pittsburgh last Saturday.

It’s the level of play national women’s college basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli expected out of Hemingway before the season. Looking at the Orange roster, Antonelli highlighted the forward as a player to watch.

‘She’s undersized playing a lot of post and she’s tough and she can rebound,’ Antonellisaid in October. ‘And she can also handle in the open floor well enough to get them transitioning the other way. She will be somebody that I will be excited about watching.’

Antonelli believed Hemingway would fit in ‘perfectly’ in Hillsman’s new up-tempo style of play. The head coach also saw the big picture back in November when his star player was stuck on the bench.

It may have taken her time to adjust, but the senior is thriving in the system now.

‘As she really committed to that side of our program that we’re transitioning to, it was very easy for her,’ Hillsman said. ‘She is a great player and she is a hard worker and she wants to win and I knew that it would just be a matter of time before she earned it.’

rjgery@syr.edu

Published on January 10, 2012 at 12:00 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu