#23 Orange Hang on to Beat Georgia Tech

Thursday, February 8

Syracuse, NY

7 PM

Syracuse University

19-4,9-3ACC

Georgia Tech

14-10,5-7ACC

Georgia Tech

Syracuse

2/8/2024 9:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Press Conference Highlights Photo Gallery

Graduate student Izabel Varejão tied her career-highs in points (13) and rebounds (7) in her first game since Dec. 4, as No. 23 Syracuse (19-4, 9-3 ACC) defeated Georgia Tech (14-10, 5-7 ACC), 62-59, Thursday evening inside the JMA Wireless Dome during the team's Pink Out/Play4Kay game.

Fifth-year guard Dyaisha Fair and Yellow Jacket Kara Dunn both scored a game-best 17 points.

Freshman forward Alyssa Latham scored 12 points and grabbed eight boards for the Orange, while tipping the ball to Varejão on Georgia Tech's inbound with 34 seconds left to hold onto the victory.

WHEN THE GAME WAS DECIDED
The final 15 minutes of action was a back-and-forth affair with the two team's trading buckets. Holding the Yellow Jackets scoreless in the final 2:23 of the game, Varejão knocked down the layup for a 60-59 advantage with 1:57 remaining.

After exchanging misses, Georgia Tech attempted to inbound the ball in their offensive zone with 34 seconds on the clock. Latham was able to box out her opponent and swat the ball towards Varejão.

Fair went 2-for-4 in a pair of trips to the charity stripe to give the Orange a 62-59 lead. With nine seconds left, Rusne Augustinaite missed the 3-point attempt before Kayla Blackshear grabbed the offensive rebound, dishing it out to Tech's Tonie Morgan from beyond the arc. Morgan stepped out of bounds before her shot attempt, giving Syracuse the ball with seconds remaining.

GAME OF RUNS
Georgia Tech used an 8-2 run over the opening 2:48 of the second quarter to grab a 26-19 advantage. The Orange followed suit with a 20-4 spurt over the next nine and a half minutes of game action to lead by eight, 43-35.

DE-FENSE
The Orange defense held the Yellow Jackets scoreless over the final 2:23 of the game. Georgia Tech went 0-5 in field goal attempts while Syracuse forced a pair of turnovers and sophomore Kennedi Perkins recorded a block with 38 seconds remaining.

For the game, the Orange forced 17 total turnovers including nine steals. Fair and freshman guard Sophie Burrows recorded a pair of swipes.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Fair recorded a pair of 3-pointers in the win, giving her 398 career treys.
Varejão tied her career-high in points, which she set on Nov. 15, vs. Coppin State.
Syracuse improved to 9-3 in conference play, matching its ACC win total from last season.
Thursday marked the first win against Georgia Tech since Jan. 4, 2018, inside the Dome.
The Orange had 29 points from the bench, the most since Dec. 21 against Saint Francis.
This was the first victory of the season where Syracuse scored fewer than 70 points.
The Orange improve to 7-0 on the year when allowing less than 60 points.

NEXT GAME
Syracuse welcomes Louisville to the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday, Feb. 11 for National Girl and Women in Sports Day. Tipoff is scheduled for noon and the game will air live on The CW.

For complete coverage of Syracuse women's basketball follow /CuseWBB on Facebook, @CuseWBB on Instagram and @CuseWBB on Twitter.