Each time Cornelia Fondren heads to or leaves the bench, assistant coach Tammi Reiss leaves her with a simple reminder. About 15 times a game it’s merely “Corn, just be solid.”

Fondren needs the suggestion because her job on the court is more complex than that. She’s asked to play the point guard and power forward positions and everywhere in between. She’s tasked with being the team’s secondary rebounder, secondary passer and leading defender.

The versatility and aggression that define her as a player and make her an asset for Syracuse also come with consequences. Fondren leads the team with 88 turnovers and 3.5 per game in conference play. She’s committed the most fouls (81), often charges, and has fouled out in three games.

Syracuse wins games almost solely on turnover-margin. Heading into its first game of the ACC tournament at 8 p.m. on Friday in Greensboro, North Carolina, No. 3 seed Syracuse (23-6, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) will need to secure the ball and continue forcing turnovers. That all starts with Fondren.

“That’s the way we play,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said of his team’s and Fondren’s aggressive playing style. “If it comes back to bite her, it comes back to bite us because we’re not going to back up.”

Fondren alone accounts for a quarter of SU’s turnovers in conference play this year. She often succumbs to offensive fouls and forced passes that end up in the hands of defenders.

While she thrives on driving to the basket, those trips down the floor can lead to a defender on her back and Fondren with a foul.

“I get at least two charges a game by running people over,” Fondren said.

Prior to games, Reiss comes to Fondren with a scouting report based around the opponent’s help defense near the lane. Either Fondren has the green light to put her head down and go to the basket, or she knows she’ll have to jump stop. From there, she can either dish the ball or pull up for a shot.

“When she puts her head down and goes in the lane,” Reiss said, “there’s always that 50-50 chance that she’ll get an and-one or she’s going to get a charge and that you got to kind of live with that.”

Daily Orange File Photo

Because Fondren plays so many positions on the floor, she’ll sometimes make it the majority of the way through the game without assuming her role of backup point guard. Starting point guard Alexis Peterson plays more than 31 minutes per game, leaving fewer than nine of Fondren’s nearly 27 minutes to be handling the ball.

She’ll look to make a great play or thread the needle, Reiss said, but they are questionable plays for starting point guards and not needed from someone in the backup role.

“Distribute the ball. Don’t turn it over. Be you. Don’t try to be something you’re not,” Reiss said. “… When she doesn’t have the ball in her hands all game long and then you ask her to run the show it’s a different feeling. It’s a lot for somebody.”

As the blemishes mount, they can throw Fondren off her game, she said, and confine her to the bench.

She tries to make up for each turnover by forcing one or getting an assist, but it doesn’t wipe the slate clean.

“Always,” Fondren said. “Turnovers are always in my head. Going back and watching film, you see your mistakes. You see you’re turning it over and you try to make it up.”

Last season, SU guard Diamond Henderson tore her ACL before the ACC tournament and Fondren had to step up, scoring at least 16 points in the Orange’s three postseason games.

This year, Syracuse doesn’t need those kinds of heroics. It just needs her to take care of the ball.

Published on March 2, 2016 at 10:40 pm

Contact Jon: jrmettus@syr.edu | @jmettus