Previewing Syracuse women’s basketball’s season opener against Stony Brook
Syracuse women’s basketball tips off its 2025-26 season by welcoming Stony Brook to the JMA Wireless Dome Tuesday. Tara DeLuca | Staff Photographer
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Eight months. 243 days. Eight new players. A new associate head coach. The program’s first-ever general manager.
Syracuse women’s basketball looks far different than it did the last time it played a competitive game. Since the Orange left the court in Greensboro, North Carolina on March 5, the team is almost unrecognizable.
But after a 12-18 campaign last year, that may be a good thing.
Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack was active in the portal, bringing in four transfers. She welcomed several new faces to her modified coaching staff. She remains that last year wasn’t a down year; instead, her squad learned rather than lost. Her objective is still to win a national championship with her new-look squad when March rolls around.
The metaphorical staircase to those goals, though, is steep. The Orange will take their first step Tuesday in their season opener against Stony Brook. Here’s everything to know before Syracuse faces the Seawolves:
All-time series
Syracuse leads 5-0.
Last time they played
Syracuse opened its 2022-23 season with a 79-56 crushing of the Seawolves. Syracuse trailed at the end of the first quarter but outscored Stony Brook by 25 points the rest of the way. SU shot just 39% from the field, but the Seawolves were worse, shooting 31% overall and 1-for-16 from 3.
In her first year with the Orange, Dyaisha Fair led the way for SU with 18 points. Dariauna Lewis poured in a double-double with 15 points and 16 rebounds. However, no player from that 2022-23 roster will be on the court Tuesday.
The Seawolves Report
Stony Brook enters this campaign on the heels of a 12-18 campaign last season. The Seawolves went 7-11 in Coastal Athletic Association play before losing in the first round of the CAA tournament to Hampton.
The Seawolves lost the majority of their offensive production over the offseason. Top scorer Zaida Gonzalez graduated and second-leading scorer Breauna Ware transferred to Wisconsin. Junior guard Janay Brantley is the only returner who averaged more than four points per game last year.
Stony Brook opened its 2025-26 schedule with an 85-43 exhibition win over Division II Queens. Jackson State transfer Diaka Berete led the way with 21 points off the bench, while Brantley, Caitlin Frost and Sandra Frau Garcia all had double figures.
How Syracuse beats Stony Brook
The keys to the game aren’t too complicated for Syracuse. The revamped Orange shouldn’t have too much difficulty pouncing on the Seawolves early and often. However, as SU proved last season, these early-season matchups can never be discounted.
Most importantly, Syracuse needs to take advantage of its matchups down low. The Seawolves don’t have a player taller than 6-foot-2, while the Orange have six players at that mark or taller. In its exhibition versus Daemen, SU successfully exploited those matchups, primarily with freshman big Uche Izoje, who poured in 19 points.
Brantley is Stony Brook’s only returner who averaged over two rebounds per game last year. While Frost, who totaled 10 boards in the Seawolves’ exhibition win, will likely be Stony Brook’s go-to glass cleaner, Syracuse should still have a major advantage in the rebounding department. If the Orange can dominate the paint on both sides of the floor, they should win this one handily.
Stat to know: 58.9
Last season, Stony Brook ranked 302nd of 362 Division I teams with 58.9 points per game, per HerHoopStats. The Seawolves return five players who saw minutes last year, but they combined for just 18.1 points per game, or 30.7% of that output.
Syracuse, meanwhile, ranked 84th in Division I with 70.5 points per game, and its seven returners combined for 31.8 points per game, 45% of that scoring. While the Orange will be without last year’s leading scorer Georgia Woolley, SU picked up a comparable scorer in Laila Phelia and retained second-leading scorer Sophie Burrows.
If both Phelia and Burrows can produce for the Orange, the point disparity between SU and Stony Brook should only grow. Unless the Seawolves can pick up a big performance from Brantley or Berete, it’s going to be difficult for them to counter SU’s balanced attack.
Player to watch: Diaka Berete, guard, No. 10
Stony Brook isn’t going to escape the JMA Wireless Dome with a win unless it’s fueled by a massive performance from one of its top scorers. Berete, who transferred to the Seawolves from Jackson State this offseason, averaged 7.6 points per game last season in limited minutes. She showed flashes of stardom, though, including a 26-point performance against Grambling last February.
Berete was the Seawolves’ leading scorer in their exhibition win over Queens College on Oct. 30 with 21 points in just 24 minutes on a team-high 19 attempts. She’s not afraid to shoot the rock, and, if most of those shots start falling, she can be a threat against the Orange.
