Observations from Syracuse’s 89-71 win over Pitt: Woolley, Fair continue to impress

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Syracuse had completely fallen apart down the stretch of the first half against Pittsburgh. The Orange allowed nearly 20 points in a five-minute stretch, while they could only summon up a bucket. Georgia Woolley provided the offense early on, but Dyaisha Fair only scored two points in the first half.

However, that all changed in the second half. Fair scored double digits in both the third and fourth quarters, while Woolley continued to dominate to finish tying her highest point total this season. The two scorers would combine for over half of the Orange’s points versus the Panthers.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (11-4, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) 89-71 win over Pittsburgh (7-8, 0-4 ACC).

Fair heats up in the 2nd half…again

Fair has had games like this before. In an early nonconference matchup against a Yale, Fair was cold in the first half, scoring two points on free throws right before halftime. In the second half, she totaled 15 points in the final 20 minutes of play to spearhead Syracuse’s eventual comeback victory.

Tonight’s home matchup against the Panthers followed a virtually identical script. Fair scored two points in the first half, before scoring 22 in the second. With a layup midway through the third quarter, she scored her first points since the four-minute mark of the first quarter.
Halfway through the third quarter, Fair hit a jumper from the right side that hit the rim twice but fell in.

Over a four-minute stretch midway through the third quarter, Syracuse went on a 12-5 scoring run, with Fair scoring seven of them. At the 4:30 mark of the quarter, Fair sent a nifty pass to Woolley, who buried the corner 3-pointer to tie the game. Fair then found her spot to hit a 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 53-48 lead.

In the fourth quarter, Fair showed off more of her solid passing ability. She tossed a lob inside to Dariauna Lewis, who eventually scored on a jumper to give Syracuse its first points of the final frame. She capped it off with two 3-pointers from the left wing to give Syracuse its biggest lead of the night with just over four minutes remaining. Fair ended the victory over the Panthers with 24 points, a team-best.

Woolley’s consistent scoring

With much of the offense struggling in the two previous games, Syracuse has heavily relied upon Woolley, who put up 23 points against No. 6 NC State on New Year’s Day. Along with her team-best point total, Woolley was intercepting passes and creating fastbreak chances for the Orange.

A game later against Pittsburgh, Woolley became SU’s offensive leader while Fair and Teisha Hyman combined for four points in the first 15 minutes of the game. On one of the Panthers’ early possessions, Maliyah Johnson hit a jumper but Woolley responded with a 3-pointer to make the score 7-4.

Woolley contributed defensively, too, recording a team-best five steals in the first half. Less than a minute after her first 3-point make, Woolley attempted a fadeaway shot that airballed as the shot clock winded down to zero, giving the Panthers the ball back. However, Woolley got back on defense to manage a steal and a layup on the other end.

Pitt’s Liatu King hit a jumper to start the second quarter, but Woolley came back down and made her second 3-pointer of the night. At this point in the game, Woolley had three fewer points than the Panthers’ entire team. On another fastbreak, Woolley dished to Alaina Rice, who hit a 3 from the right wing to make it a 10-point game.

Woolley continued her success in the second half even while the Panthers remained in front. She tallied Syracuse’s first two points of the third quarter on a floater. Two minutes later, Woolley sent a quick pass to Hyman, who nailed her first 3-pointer of the night. With Syracuse on the comeback trail in the third frame, Woolley knocked down the game-tying 3-pointer.

She went on to finish with 23 points, tying her season-best she set against the Wolfpack a game ago.

Second quarter collapse

Syracuse spent all of the first quarter and the opening minutes of the second patiently carving up Pittsburgh’s 2-3 zone. In the first 10 minutes of the game, the Orange made half of their shots as everyone in the starting lineup recorded at least one bucket. But after Kyra Wood made a layup with just over six minutes left in the half, the drought began.

As the Panthers started to limit their turnovers, the Orange were powerless to stop Pitt as Aislin Malcolm made her first of three 3-pointers. Fair and Rice both missed from beyond the arc while Amber Brown and Avery Strickland made layups inside.

With less than two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, Malcolm hit a wide-open 3-pointer from the right corner, giving Pittsburgh the lead and capping a 12-0 run in three minutes. Malcolm hit another 3-pointer to increase Pitt’s lead. Asia Strong finally ended the scoring run with a layup, but Brown scored at the buzzer to end the final five minutes of the second quarter on a 19-2 run.

Fastbreak over free throws

With two made shots from the charity stripe with just over seven minutes remaining in the game, Woolley scored the Orange’s first free throws of the night. It was Syracuse’s first trip to the free-throw line — a surprising occurrence for a team who has relied on 20 made free throws in matchups against Yale and Wake Forest.

But Syracuse was hurt by the lack of free throws against Pittsburgh. It replaced the scoring output by being dominant on the fastbreak. This method of scoring has proved to be inconsistent. While the Orange only finished with six fastbreak points in a road loss to Louisville, they totaled 31 fastbreak points against Pitt. Early in the first quarter, Hyman knocked down a jump shot, and then on the next possession, Lewis scored on a fastbreak layup. This trend continued throughout the game as the non-Woolley and Fair scorers benefitted from the quick points.

Halfway through the fourth quarter, Lewis made a hard block on Johnson, setting up another fastbreak for the Orange. The ball eventually made its way to Wood, who powered her way inside and scored on a layup. This gave Syracuse a 72-61 lead and forced Panther head coach Lance White to call a timeout.