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Last season, Syracuse reached the NCAA Tournament for the second time since a stretch of seven straight from 2012 to 2019. The Orange finished 24-8 and advanced to the Round of 32 in Felisha Legette-Jack’s second season at the helm. But just two games into Atlantic Coast Conference play this season, a return to March Madness seems unlikely following a trouncing on the road versus Georgia Tech.

While SU lost three of its four leading scorers from last year, there was still some optimism it could repeat the run. But so far, Syracuse hasn’t even come close to doing that. Alarm bells rang after three nonconference losses in its first homestand. And they got even louder with blowouts to Creighton and then-No. 10 Notre Dame.

After finishing nonconference play at .500, a bout with the Yellow Jackets started a 17-game ACC schedule, which includes five ranked teams — beginning with GT. Georgia Tech, one of six remaining undefeated teams, provided an immediate challenge in SU’s second ACC contest.

Syracuse (6-7, 0-2 ACC) was handily defeated 85-68 by No. 13 Georgia Tech (15-0, 3-0 ACC) on Thursday, adding to its disappointing start to the season. GT constantly dominated under the basket, posting 38 points in the paint. Even when the Orange began to stop Georgia Tech inside, GT’s Dani Carnegie buried them from deep, finishing 6-of-8 on triples for 28 total points.

At first, it looked like the game would be close despite the teams’ unbalanced pedigrees. The Yellow Jackets pressed Syracuse constantly, but SU broke through, commanding an early 10-1 lead. The Orange were led by Kyra Wood and Georgia Woolley, who contributed four and six points, respectively.

As SU thrived, GT committed multiple turnovers and didn’t hit a shot until the 7:11 mark of the first quarter. Still, it eventually settled in, cutting the Orange’s lead to 10-7. Ariadna Termis and Carnegie sank Georgia Tech’s first shots on back-to-back possessions.

But the Yellow Jackets began to stifle SU’s offense. Syracuse only made two shots — the last a nifty move by Izabel Varejão for a layup — in the next eight minutes. Although Georgia Tech had shooting struggles of its own — starting 2-of-14 from the field — the Orange’s inability to take advantage allowed it to crawl back into the game.

Out of the under-5 minute media timeout, GT completely flipped the game. It began exploiting Syracuse’s weak paint defense, which entered averaging 28.3 points per game in that area. Georgia Tech maneuvered inside easily, often converting uncontested layups or drawing fouls.

As the Orange floundered offensively, the Yellow Jackets tied the score 16-16 via a 9-2 run to end the first. Four different players scored in the stretch, capped by driving layups by Chazadi Wright and Tonie Morgan.

This trend continued into the second quarter, as Morgan quickly gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the night on an and-one layup. Travels by Journey Thompson and Woolley allowed the Yellow Jackets to keep building momentum, extending their lead to 24-16 to open the quarter.

However, Syracuse began connecting from deep, with Woolley and Kiera Scott cutting the lead to 32-25 with three triples. Yet, it was no use. The Orange had no answer for Georgia Tech in the paint, especially Zoesha Smith, who logged six points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Eight more points under the rim propelled GT to a 44-31 halftime advantage.

Each team started the third quarter with two turnovers, but Syracuse again couldn’t capitalize. Instead, the Yellow Jackets continued cruising inside, as three easy layups from Morgan, Termis and Carnegie pushed GT to a 50-35 lead — its biggest yet.

Syracuse attempted to claw back, notching four straight points. However, as Georgia Tech dominated inside, SU had to compensate by fouling on two consecutive possessions. GT drilled all four free throws, and Carnegie dished a no-look pass to Smith for a layup, forcing Legette-Jack to call a timeout down 56-39.

After the timeout, nothing changed. SU played tight defense, forcing the Yellow Jackets to miss shots, but it was too inconsistent offensively to respond. Dominique Camp threw the ball out of bounds in front of a cutting Sophie Burrows. Then, Saniaa Wilson missed a second-chance layup and Angelica Velez misfired a triple at the end of the shot clock.

As it had all game, Georgia Tech made it pay. This time, it was from 3. Three-point shooting had defined the Yellow Jackets’ offense this season, as they’d attempted 389 triples entering the game, the third-most in the country.

Still, GT had only sunk 2-of-13 looks from beyond the arc until that point in the contest, a reflection of its middling 34.4% hit rate on the year. But as wide-open looks surfaced, success followed, enabling a 14-0 Georgia Tech run.

To start, Carnegie drilled two straight attempts from beyond the arc to push Georgia Tech’s lead to 65-51 to end the third quarter. Following the break, the freshman continued to stay hot. After drilling a mid-range floater, she hit her fourth 3 of the day to make it 72-51.

Syracuse was almost the exact opposite, failing to get three straight shots to hit nylon with seven minutes remaining in the fourth. After GT finally pulled down a rebound, SU was caught in transition. Yet again, Carnegie made it pay, draining her fifth 3 from the right wing to put the Yellow Jackets ahead 79-51.

Even though Syracuse embarked on its own 11-0 run via back-to-back Burrows triples, just her first points of the night, SU dug itself too big of a hole.

As the final minutes elapsed, it marked another disappointing loss in Legette-Jack’s third season. But more importantly, it sent the Orange further in the wrong direction, away from last year’s success and toward mediocrity.

Published on January 2, 2025 at 9:11 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99