Previewing Syracuse women’s basketball’s home matchup vs. Georgia Tech
UNC snapped Syracuse’s three-game win streak on Sunday. The Orange return home looking to right the ship against Georgia Tech. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
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Syracuse women’s basketball’s chaotic month of January is coming to close. The month has seen just about every version of this SU squad.
It’s shown the version of Syracuse that can ride out gritty Atlantic Coast Conference wins, like it did against Florida State and Stanford. The one that can walk into an opponents stadium and take over the second half, like it did against Wake Forest and Virginia. And, unfortunately for the Orange, even the one that gets blown out at home by 20 points.
Most recently, Syracuse relied on some late-game heroics and big-time performances to piece together a brief three-game win streak, only for it to come to a screeching halt with an overtime loss at North Carolina.
To finish a month of unpredictability, the Orange hope they’ll get the best version of themselves Thursday against Georgia Tech.
Here’s everything to know about the Yellow Jackets (9-12, 4-5 ACC) before they take on Syracuse (16-4, 6-3 ACC) at the JMA Wireless Dome Thursday:
All-time series
Georgia Tech leads 6-4.
Last time they played
On Jan. 2, 2025, Georgia Tech trounced Syracuse 85-68 in Atlanta. Georgia Woolley led the way for the Orange with 22 points, but GT dominated down low and beyond the arc all game. The Yellow Jackets posted 38 points in the paint and nailed seven 3s, six of which came from the hot hand of Dani Carnegie, contributing to her game-high 28 points.
The win brought the Yellow Jackets — then ranked No. 13 in the country — to 15-0 on the season, while Syracuse dropped to 6-7, below .500 for the first time that year.
Both teams’ seasons quickly unraveled from there, though. Georgia Tech lost 11 of its last 18 games, culminating in a first round NCAA Tournament exit. Syracuse never peaked above .500 again, part of a disastrous 12-18 campaign in Felisha Legette-Jack’s third season at the helm.
The Yellow Jackets Report
Georgia Tech hasn’t followed up last year’s NCAA Tournament run well. After going 22-11 just a season ago, the Yellow Jackets enter Thursday’s matchup at 9-12 and 11th in the ACC.
Most of that fall-off has been due to GT’s roster turnover, or lack thereof. Aside from longtime head coach Nell Fortner retiring, all three of the Yellow Jackets’ top scorers hit the transfer portal last offseason. Kara Dunn (15.5 PPG) landed at USC, Tonie Morgan (13.7 PPG) headed to Kentucky and Carnegie (12.9 PPG) went to cross-state foe Georgia. It left new head coach Karen Blair picking up the pieces of a once-potent backcourt.
Blair turned to a transfer guard of her own to carry most of the offensive burden. Talayah Walker, who spent her freshman season at Penn State, has quietly broken out as a sophomore for the Yellow Jackets. She’s averaging 16.5 points on 42.6% shooting and an uber-efficient 47.9% from 3. Catherine Alben, another transfer from Charleston Southern, compliments her with 10.5 points per contest.
How Syracuse beats Georgia Tech
For Syracuse to get back on track against GT, the Orange will need to pay a fair share of attention to Walker, who’s undoubtedly the key cog in everything the Yellow Jackets do offensively. But, for the most part, it’s going to be a game won and lost in the paint.
Syracuse ranks top-15 in both two-pointers attempted (50.8) and made (23.6) per game. That’s likely only going to increase as the Orange continue to give Uche Izoje a longer leash — SU’s freshman phenom is averaging 20.7 attempts per game over her last three contests, including two games with 24 shots or more. Against a Georgia Tech squad allowing opponents to shoot just 42.6, she’ll need to be the talisman of Syracuse’s offense again.
Additionally, both squads rank top-30 in total rebounding. Georgia Tech tends to thrive on the defensive glass, while the Orange are one of the best teams in the nation on the offensive glass. Whichever team can effectively control that matchup will have a major upper hand Thursday.
Stat to know: 30
Syracuse has controlled the glass — at least offensively — in just about every game it’s played this season. But Georgia Tech will be one of SU’s best challengers yet.
Syracuse still sits fourth in the nation with 17.8 offensive boards per game, and it’s been a major part of SU’s offensive identity this season. The Orange’s quick pace and effort on the offensive glass affords them flexibility offensively. SU is shooting 42.3% from the field as a team, but averages nearly 10 more field goal attempts than opponents so far this season. Those can undoubtedly be the difference in close games, which Syracuse has had its fair share of.
However, the Yellow Jackets look up to the task. They average 30 defensive rebounds per game, the 10th-best mark in the nation, per SportsReference. That contributes to 42 total boards per game, 28th-best in the nation. GT is one of few squads in the ACC that can really put a halt on SU’s dominance on the offensive glass.
Center Brianna Turnage is the main piece in that puzzle. She averages 9.5 rebounds a game, the third-best mark in the ACC, just ahead of Izoje’s 9.1. Look for that matchup to play a key role in the outcome Thursday.
Player to watch: Talayah Walker, No. 21
If Georgia Tech escapes the JMA Wireless Dome with an upset win, it’ll be in large part due to Walker.
The sophomore Penn State transfer has hit her stride in January. It started with a 33-point performance against Notre Dame on New Year’s Day, followed by a 30-point game against SMU Jan. 4. She then played a season-high in minutes (40) and took a season-high 23 field goal attempts in a 21-point outing against Virginia a week later. While she’s averaging just 14.3 points over her last three conference contests, she’s averaging 21.3 in the month overall.
Whether the Yellow Jackets can hang with the Orange on the glass or not, Walker will continue to bear the load offensively. Twenty percent of GT’s field goals this season have been taken by their star guard, and she’s going to need a lot of them to fall in order to pick up a road win Thursday.
