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In 2023, Syracuse’s first year under the leadership of Felisha Legette-Jack, the Orange lost a litany of close contests in the fourth quarter. Legette-Jack explained her team “didn’t know how to win ugly.” A fourth-quarter collapse against then-No. 7 Notre Dame along with a nine-point blown lead against then-No. 6 NC State showed SU’s inability to finish games.

But none encapsulated Syracuse’s troubles in 2023 more than when it traveled to Georgia Tech on Jan. 19, 2023. At the time, the Yellow Jackets were 0-7 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and SU seemed to have an easy win in the bag, until it didn’t. A tie game after three quarters turned disastrous when Syracuse shot just 5-for-18 and was outscored 21-10 over the final 10 minutes.

In the two teams’ first meeting since then, Syracuse had a chance at redemption. The Orange entered the fourth quarter with a one-point lead. And despite trailing by three with less than five minutes to go, SU turned the game around and ground out a close victory.

Avoiding a repeat collapse in the fourth quarter, No. 23 Syracuse (19-4, 9-3 ACC) showed its resiliency, escaping with a 62-59 win over Georgia Tech (14-10, 5-7 ACC). The two teams combined for 11 lead changes and nine ties, but the Orange came up with just enough down the stretch despite a poor shooting night from Dyaisha Fair (5-for-18) who was coming off a season-high 38-point performance against Boston College. The point guard finished with a team-high 17 points.

“A lot of things that went haywire, including the fact that they were better than us that particular day,” Legette-Jack said of SU’s defeat last year. “We didn’t coach them as well as we needed to. And so we’ve gotten better as a coaching staff. We’ve gotten better as a team. We’ve got more pieces to the puzzle now and now you see us.”

Similar to 2023 — a game with nine ties and five lead changes — Syracuse and Georgia Tech weathered a narrow first quarter. The Yellow Jackets hit two straight shots on their opening two possessions: first, a Kara Dunn runner in the lane followed by a Sydney Johnson 3 in the corner. But SU responded with seven straight, a Kyra Wood finish inside was sandwiched in between two Fair buckets and the Orange led for the first time.

With 5:23 left in the first quarter, forward Izabel Varejão returned for the first time since Dec. 4 after being held out due to an undisclosed injury. In her first offensive possession, Varejão hit a mid-range jumper, then set up Alyssa Latham the next time down the floor to tie the game at 11-11. Varejão finished with 13 points in 20 minutes, providing the Orange with a scoring presence in the paint.

Syracuse and Georgia Tech continued to trade buckets and despite the Orange shooting 54% from the field, the Yellow Jackets’ three 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes were the difference, leading 19-17.

Within a minute of the second quarter, Georgia Tech opened up a seven point lead after Dunn — Georgia Tech’s leading scorer with 15.3 points per game — hit a mid-range jumper to make it 24-17.

The Yellow Jackets kept the Orange at arm’s length, jumping out to a 31-23 advantage. But as Georgia Tech looked to gain separation, Syracuse forced GT to miss its final six shots of the quarter and go the final five minutes scoreless. Yet SU scored just three points in the final three minutes of the half and trailed 31-28 at the break.

Syracuse used its defensive momentum to carry over into the third quarter. Latham blocked a Kayla Blackshear attempt which eventually led to a Georgia Woolley corner 3 to put SU in front for the first time since the first quarter.

Back-to-back scores from Tonie Morgan broke a nine-minute Georgia Tech drought, but Latham and Varejão answered as Syracuse led 39-35. Woolley hit two straight jumpers to complete an 8-0 Syracuse run to go up 43-35, its largest lead of the game. But Georgia Tech proceeded to score eight straight to tie the game, capped off by an Aixa Wone Aranaz bucket inside.

After Blackshear put Georgia Tech back in front on the first possession of the fourth quarter, Fair banked in a floater for her first made field goal since 8:47 left in the second quarter as SU led by one.

But Georgia Tech stormed right back in front, jumping out to a three-point lead after a Dunn layup with 4:57 left. Varejão broke the drought after she made an and-one off-balance fadeaway jumper to tie the game at 53-53.

“It’s just finding ways to win and it’s not always going to be (Fair),” said SU assistant head coach Sue Ludwig postgame. “She’s going to do what she does but she needs the rest of us too. And it’s not going to be the same person every night.”

The two teams continued to go back-and-forth but a Varejão bucket put Syracuse up 60-59 with just under two minutes remaining. Georgia Tech had the chance to take the lead with 37 seconds left, but Latham deflected an inbound pass which led to Fair getting fouled, who split the ensuing free throws to put SU up two.

Out of a GT timeout, Morgan missed long from the free throw line and Latham forced a jump ball to give Syracuse possession.

​​”Just playing, starting from when I first came to the game, staying locked in and making sure I crash the boards and it led to what happened at the end,” Latham, who finished with 12 points and eight boards off the bench, said.

Latham attempted to ice the game at the line, but missed both her attempts from the charity stripe, giving Georgia Tech one last shot. Rusne Augustinaite fired a deep 3, but her shot hit the back iron. Blackshear secured the board, passing to Dunn who found Morgan along the sideline, though her foot was out of bounds.

Fair received the inbounds pass and let the clock run down to zero, allowing Syracuse to take a collective sigh of relief as it exercised its demons from its previous performance against Georgia Tech.

“Last year we just tried to show up and pray things work well, this year you have to see us,” Legette-Jack said.

Published on February 8, 2024 at 9:19 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22