HARTFORD, Conn.- Syracuse senior Chineze Nwagbo stood in the paint barking out orders in SU’s matchup with Georgetown in the first round of the Big East tournament Saturday night.

‘Mary, get your hands off them!’

Mary Joe Riley had just been called for a foul, and the Hoyas continued to linger close to SU, a frightening sight for an Orange team that already had lost to Georgetown twice this season.

But then, with 3:06 left in the second half, Georgetown center Varda Tamoulianis, the majority of GU’s offensive production, fouled out. The Georgetown post no longer had an answer for Nwagbo, who took advantage of Hoya backup center Christine Whitt whenever she came in the game. The momentum swung decidedly in Syracuse’s direction.

And in the last weekend of her Syracuse career, Nwagbo exploded against the Hoyas. After losing to GU twice this season, SU stunned Georgetown, 65-58, under its captain’s leadership. Syracuse next plays Connecticut in a Big East quarterfinal on Sunday at 8 p.m. The Huskies defeated the Orange, 85-49, on Feb. 19.

‘After two losses, you get tired,’ Nwagbo said. ‘You don’t want to lose again. I was just hungry. I wanted to win.’

Nwagbo’s intensity showed on the court. She yelled at her teammates on offense, on defense, even during timeouts. Her Syracuse career wasn’t going to end Saturday night.

She pounded into Tamoulianis on offense, causing the lanky Georgetown center to either hang over Nwagbo and foul her or back off and allow an easy lay-up.

Nwagbo dominated the Hoyas on the boards, as well, crashing into swarms of opponents to pull down a rebound. She finished with 19 points and 13 rebounds, her 16th career double-double.

‘She kicked our butts,’ Georgetown head coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. ‘We didn’t have a post player that could guard her. (Tamoulianis) is not a physical post player and Chineze’s a very physical post player.’

But it wasn’t until Tamoulianis was in foul trouble that the Orange began to pull away. For most of the game, Syracuse couldn’t answer the Hoya center either, and Nwagbo also drew foul trouble early in the second half. Tamoulianis finished with 15 points, but only three rebounds.

Nwagbo also took advantage at the foul line, converting all seven of her attempts.And after a season of disappointment in the Big East, Syracuse ended its Big East tournament losing streak of three games. It was its first win in the tournament since 2002.

‘I’m real proud of the ladies, and we played real hard,’ Syracuse head coach Keith Cieplicki said. ‘We talked about establishing a better game in the paint, and we did a good job of that. Obviously, we are very, very happy.’

Published on March 5, 2005 at 12:00 pm