After 2-month absence, Izabel Varejão stars in No. 23 Syracuse’s win over GT

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Heading back to the court for the first time since Dec. 4 with an undisclosed injury, Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack told Izabel Varejão to be herself ahead of SU’s matchup with Georgia Tech.

The graduate student started six of the Orange’s first eight games, but Legette-Jack opted to play Varejão off the bench and planned to play her sparingly. But three impactful first-quarter minutes quickly turned into a game-changing 20 minutes.

After a two-month absence, Varejão dominated versus the Yellow Jackets. She tied season-highs by scoring 13 points and corralling seven rebounds, helping lift No. 23 Syracuse (19-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a 62-59 win versus Georgia Tech (14-10, 5-7 ACC). After dropping games consecutively for the first time this season against then-No. 19 Virginia Tech and then-No. 16 Louisville, the Orange have now won back-to-back games.

“I think I just played free… I feel like there was nothing to do besides be myself,” Varejão said postgame.

Legette-Jack’s decision to let Varejão loose paid off down the stretch. With GT leading 52-50 Aixa Wone Aranaz tried extending its lead to five, but Varejão stepped in front and tipped the ball, helping the Orange get out in transition.

After missing its last five shots, SU got the ball to Varejão down low but she was clamped. Even with tight defense from Wone Aranaz, Varejão was bumped 10 feet from the basket, drawing a foul before rattling the ball in off the window and hitting the ensuing free throw to tie the game 53-53. From there, Syracuse used its momentum to propel it to a three-point win.

“I just saw the ball, saw the score and was like we gotta win this game — I just did everything that I could. I was like, ‘I’m right here.’ I’m gonna use the advantage that I have with my wingspan and just gonna block the shot,” Varejão said.

Although Varejão was in SU’s closing lineup, she wasn’t in its starting lineup. With Syracuse trailing 9-7 near the halfway point of the first quarter, Varejão and Alyssa Latham replaced starting forwards Saniaa Wilson and Kyra Wood. Following an easy score by GT’s Tonie Morgan, Varejão posted up Kayla Blackshear on the block.

Alaina Rice penetrated toward the paint before dumping the ball down low to Varejão. After taking two dribbles, Varejão spun to her right and nailed a turnaround jumper.

On the other end, Rice forced Blackshear into GT’s second of an eventual 17 turnovers. Offensively, Syracuse moved the ball around the key before Sophie Burrows whipped a pass to Varejão near the free throw line. Varejão caught the ball over Kara Dunn, who tried helping Sydney Johnson on a double team, which left Latham wide open under the basket. She quickly fired the ball to Latham, who scored her first points of an eventual 12.

But after a three-minute spurt and SU trailing 14-13, she was sent to the bench and didn’t return until the Yellow Jackets led 22-17 one minute into the second quarter. Immediately upon returning to the court, Syracuse got the ball down low to Varejão off an inbounds play.

Despite facing a double team, she hoisted a contested close-range jumper that missed off the back iron. Over the next two minutes, GT extended its lead to 26-19. Rice tried cutting the lead to four on a 3-point attempt, but her shot missed and a long rebound ensued. While Varejão made a valiant effort to give the Orange a second chance, Rusne Augustinaite grabbed the rebound. But she corralled the board tight roping the base line and Varejão’s presence caused her to lose her footing, regaining Syracuse the ball.

“I felt like I just went out there and did what (Legette-Jack) told me to do,” Varejão said postgame. “Be happy, play (my) basketball and see what’s gonna happen.”

Varejão was the inbounder but after establishing herself as an open target near the basket, she was fed the ball. With only Blackshear in front of her, Varejão stepped through the lane before flicking up a hook shot that kissed off the front of the rim and down the net, cutting Syracuse’s deficit down to five.

After a four-minute stretch where she picked up two fouls, Varejão was sent to the bench midway through the period with SU trailing 29-23 and didn’t return for the rest of the half.

Although she didn’t start at the opening tip, Legette-Jack opted to start Varejão — as well as Latham — to start the second half. Throughout the first two and a half minutes of the third quarter, Varejão grabbed three rebounds. Her second led to a Georgia Woolley 3 that gave Syracuse a 33-31 lead, its first lead since the first quarter.

Then after another Georgia Tech miss, Varejão was fed the ball down low. Unlike in the first half when she forced a shot after facing a double team, Varejão stepped through Augustinaite and Dunn before finishing at the rim. Keeping her minutes in check, Legette-Jack pulled Varejão midway through the third with SU commanding a 43-39 lead.

Her next meaningful minutes came with nearly six minutes remaining, when she re-entered the game after closing the final two minutes of the third quarter. Despite its fourth-quarter dominance this season, SU couldn’t pull away from the Yellow Jackets, deadlocked 50-50. But with Varejão’s key block and and-one, the Orange eked out their second consecutive win.

“She wouldn’t let me not play her,” Legette-Jack said.