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In the second quarter, Georgia Woolley stood in the corner and received a pass from Alaina Rice. She pump-faked a three, causing her defender to bite. Woolley took a couple dribbles in and scored a mid-range jumper.

Those were two of 18 first-half points for Woolley, who finished with 20 for Syracuse (15-9, 6-7 Atlantic Coast) in a 79-72 win over Boston College (14-12, 4-9 ACC). Woolley trailed just Dyaisha Fair, who notched 24 points, for the game-high. Woolley has now scored at least 15 points in four consecutive games, dating back to Jan. 26 against Virginia. She also added eight rebounds, a couple assists and a pair of steals. Her 18 first-half points helped the Orange take a 45-30 lead into halftime.

“I just really play off Dyaisha,” Woolley said. “She draws so much attention. She gets in the lane. It just makes it easier having her there. My shots are made way more open.”

Syracuse started the game on an 11-2 run, which came as a result of three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the game. Rice and Fair each had one while Woolley added the other from the left wing. Woolley would add one other triple that Rice assisted. Rice penetrated into the lane and Woolley was wide open in the right corner.

The Orange manipulated Boston College’s offense by frequently driving inside the lane. Often, another Eagle defender would come over to help, but it left Syracuse’s best 3-point shooters — Rice, Fair and Woolley — open in the wings and corners.

Woolley assisted Rice in this exact play. Starting from the left wing, Woolley drove inside to the free-throw line. Rice, positioned on the perimeter, received the pass from Woolley and drained the uncontested three. Other times, Woolley wouldn’t kick out the ball, similar to how she scored a floater after driving into the lane.

“I kind of just play with the flow of the game,” Woolley said of her play style. “(I) try to give energy out to other people and that gives it back to myself.”

Though not statistically credited with the assist, Woolley drove inside, before playing a simple bounce pass to Lewis at free-throw line. Lewis quickly dished it off once more to Saniaa Wilson, who scored the open bucket at the left block to extend SU’s double-digit lead in the third quarter.

Woolley was aggressive on Sunday as was the rest of Syracuse, which shot 18-of-21 from the free-throw line. Both Fair and Woolley went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free-throw line. On a second-chance opportunity in the first quarter, Lewis could’ve corralled the rebound on her own. But instead, she tipped the ball to Woolley, who was in a better position to score. Woolley went up and drew the foul. Similarly, after a missed Fair 3 that hit the front of the rim, Woolley had crashed the glass, drawing the foul. On another play, she forced a foul on a baseline jumper.

“We needed to get to the free-throw line and actually, I needed to make some free throws,” Woolley said. “So, getting to the line and making the free throws is what (I) needed to do.”

Defensively, Woolley was just as aggressive. She corralled six defensive rebounds and added two steals. After the game, Lewis joked that Woolley snatched one of her rebounds, which would’ve given her a double-double.

On one BC possession in the third quarter, Woolley poked the ball loose twice, disrupting the Eagles offense. Then, after BC missed a floater, Woolley grabbed the defensive rebound and secured possession. On another play, the Eagles lost possession when a pass rolled into the backcourt. Woolley, well ahead of the BC players, sprinted down, picked up the ball and scored a fast-break layup. Those would be her only points of the second half, much quieter for the second half.

Woolley started the calendar year on a similar stretch of games that she has had in the past four. On New Year’s Day, against NC State, Woolley scored 23 points that almost lifted the Orange past the Wolfpack. Then, in her next outing against Pitt, she added another 23 points before scoring 14 at Clemson in the following game. And in this most recent four-game stretch, she’s averaging 18.75 points and her season point-average is the highest that it’s ever been.

“I think Georgia (Woolley) and Alaina (Rice) do a great job of navigating the game from the middle of the court,” head coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “A lot of the teams in the conference love to play the game from the middle of the court.

Published on February 5, 2023 at 7:27 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini