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Felisha Legette-Jack sat solemnly inside Mohegan Sun Arena, fielding questions from reporters following Syracuse’s 81-55 loss to Michigan on Nov. 23. SU’s head coach was just minutes removed from her team’s first defeat of the season — one where the Orange didn’t look competitive in their final 30 minutes of play.

It was a particularly nightmarish game for Sophie Burrows. The junior hadn’t gotten off to a good start to what was supposed to be a breakout third year, but her performance against the Wolverines represented a new low.

Four points. One-of-10 from the field. Seven 3-point attempts, zero makes. It was the kind of performance that prompted a reporter to ask Legette-Jack about the Australian’s extended slump.

“How do you guys try and help (Sophie) get going with her shot?”

Legette-Jack, shaking her head, didn’t have many answers for Burrows’ performance.

“She’s gotta figure it out,” Legette-Jack said. “She’s gotta figure it out, or I gotta sub her out.”

Burrows was left with an ultimatum. She either had to get it together, or risk seeing her minutes dwindle as her slump persisted. On Sunday, she responded by choosing the former. In Syracuse’s Atlantic Coast Conference opener against SMU, Burrows scored a season-high 22 points and canned a season-high five 3-pointers, propelling the Orange (8-1, 1-0 ACC) to a 78-69 victory over the Mustangs (4-6, 0-1 ACC).

It was her fifth career 20-point performance and first of the 2025-26 season. Burrows’ efforts spearheaded SU’s resurgence beyond the arc, as the Orange made a season-high 11 triples after going 0-for-16 from deep against Auburn.

Burrows entered Moody Coliseum hoping to make a statement. She did so about as emphatically as she could’ve.

“I don’t think we were ranked as high as we should’ve been,” Burrows said postgame on ACC Network Extra. “So, we really just wanted to come out and prove how good we really are.”

Every time the Orange needed a bucket, Burrows was the one to come through. She got Syracuse on the board less than two minutes in, sinking her first 3-point attempt to give SU an early 3-0 lead. The Orange never trailed on Sunday, and Burrows was a significant reason why.

A little over five minutes after her initial 3-point make, Burrows canned another deep-range attempt off of a steal from Uche Izoje, extending Syracuse’s lead to a sizable 17-4 margin. By the end of the first quarter, Burrows held a team-high plus/minus of 19.

“(Sophie) plays for a coach that allows her to play free. ‘Your job is to shoot the ball, because you practice it,’” Legette-Jack said postgame. “She understood the assignment.”

Her next 3-pointer didn’t come until two minutes were left in the half, but it came at a critical juncture in the contest. After an and-1 from Sahnya Jah, SMU cut the deficit to just 11, giving itself a chance to pull the game within single digits before the break.

Then, Burrows delivered a dagger, draining her third 3-pointer of the game to push Syracuse’s lead back up to 14 points. Her next attempt, just 31 seconds later, drew a foul against Jah, putting her at the line for her first three free throws of the game.

She made all three of them with ease. Until the 35th minute of play, Burrows’ three shots were the only points Syracuse scored from the charity stripe against the Mustangs. Ironically enough, her lackluster free throw volume was one of Legette-Jack’s primary criticisms of Burrows’ game after SU’s loss to Michigan.

Thanks to her six-point flurry, the Orange walked into the break with a healthy 39-24 lead, and SMU wouldn’t get the game within single digits until the fourth quarter.

“It’s our first ACC game, so we really just wanted to come out and dominate,” Burrows said.

When the Mustangs did inevitably draw close in the final frame, Burrows helped keep them at bay. She led the Orange with seven points in the fourth quarter, the bulk of that production coming off a jumper in that paint and her fifth 3-point make.

But her most impactful points came with a little over four minutes left in the contest. After driving to the rim, Burrows sought after — and found — contact against Anaya Brown, putting her at the line with a 66-58 lead. With SMU closing in, the margin for error was slim. If Burrows missed, Syracuse’s already-thinning lead would have remained in single digits, allowing the Mustangs to hang around.

That didn’t happen, though. Burrows, perfectly composed, extended SU’s lead back to 10 with her 21st and 22nd points. The Mustangs didn’t get within single digits again until a Kyla Deck 3-pointer made it 78-69, but it was far too late to be consequential.

On Nov. 30, despite a dominant 78-62 win over Howard, Burrows hadn’t rediscovered her touch yet. She only shot 4-of-12 from the field and 1-of-6 from deep against the Bison. But she was getting there. Legette-Jack could feel it.

With 24 seconds left in the third quarter of SU’s matchup against Howard, Burrows drained her only 3-pointer of the game. It gave the Orange a healthy 57-44 lead with little concern for an upset bid.

And yet, Legette-Jack called a timeout. It was an unexplained move — but also wasn’t questioned much either. On Dec. 2, prior to SU’s 66-60 overtime win over Auburn, she finally explained her reasoning behind the stoppage.

It was simple. The timeout, in some strange way, was Legette-Jack’s vote of confidence in Burrows’ ability. She wanted to let her know that she appreciates her contribution — especially when her shots start falling.

“I wanted her to understand how I value what she brings to the table,” Legette-Jack said, back on Dec. 2. “I got her back, and she got mine.”

Published on December 7, 2025 at 7:54 pm
Contact Mauricio: mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarDO