Syracuse obliterated 98-45 by No. 1 UConn in NCAA Tournament 2nd Round
Syracuse women’s basketball was crushed 98-45 by No. 1 UConn in the NCAA Tournament Second Round. Tara Deluca | Asst. Photo Editor
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STORRS, Conn. — Felisha Legette-Jack is tired of it. She knows her team deserves better.
Sitting at her postgame press conference Monday night, Legette-Jack was furious. She was tired of sitting on this stage, with the words “March Madness” behind her, talking about playing UConn. Because, if you ask her, her teams shouldn’t have to keep trekking here — to a college basketball mecca in Gampel Pavilion — and get run out of the gym by the best team in the country every time it makes the NCAA Tournament.
That’s her team’s exact fate three of the past four times she’s made March Madness, both at SU and at Buffalo. Syracuse itself has faced UConn five times in its last eight tournament runs. It seems as if every time one of Legette-Jack’s teams makes the dance, it meets the buzzsaw that is Geno Auriemma’s dynasty.
At this point, Legette-Jack can sense what’s coming. If her team isn’t flawless each time it sets foot on the court in Storrs, it’ll be sent home. She said she knew by about 2:30 p.m. on Monday — after her team’s shootaround — that they weren’t as locked in as they needed to be.
But nobody, including Auriemma himself, could’ve anticipated the drubbing that followed.
In its fifth March Madness matchup against UConn since 2016, Syracuse (24-9, 12-6 Atlantic Coast) was dealt its worst-ever NCAA Tournament defeat, falling 98-45 in the second round Monday. The Orange trailed by 53 points at halftime — due to an unbelievable 31-0 first-half UConn run — and scored a season-low 45 points. The Huskies forced 20 total turnovers and exploded for a 56% team field goal percentage, thwarting an SU tournament run that had a glimmer of promise after its first-round win over Iowa State.
“I can honestly say I’m not sure that any of the scenarios I thought about (for the game) involved us going on a run like we did in the first half,” Auriemma said. “That’s as good as it gets.”
SU guard Sophie Burrows said she’d never seen anything like it — that sort of completely game-changing run.
“We were on the back foot, and against a team like UConn, you can’t come out like that,” she said. “We learned our lesson. I know it will never happen again.”
That run was sparked by SU’s own shortcomings offensively. The Orange went 10 minutes without a point. Meanwhile, the Huskies and Azzi Fudd caught fire. They attacked SU in transition often, opening kick-out 3-pointers and completely taking control of the pace of the game.
It allowed the Huskies to push the advantage to a then-game-high 45 with the 31-0 run. SU didn’t crack double digits until the 2:52 mark in the second.
The Orange could hardly even get shots up on most offensive possessions. Syracuse had just 25 field goal attempts at halftime and 16 turnovers. UConn, conversely, shot 27-of-41 and turned the ball over just three times. Fudd canned 3 after 3 and had 26 points at the break, more than double SU’s total.
“We need to be able to come out strong and not allow our opponents to speed us up like that,” guard Laila Phelia added.
The Orange did the opposite Monday.
The Huskies’ full-court press and constant ball pressure disrupted starting point guard Maddy Potts early. KK Arnold draped her at full court every possession. SU cycled between three options at point guard, throwing in Olivia Schmitt and Angelica Velez. But between defensive traps and tenacity in the passing lanes, the Huskies forced eight turnovers and corralled seven steals in the first quarter.
Things weren’t any easier on the other end, dealing with the nation’s second-highest scoring offense. Sarah Strong scored nine quick points by the first media timeout. Fudd caught fire after the five-minute mark and finished the first quarter with 12 points.
The Orange had no answer on either end. No team in the country does.
Even when it felt like Syracuse’s offense began to settle down after halftime, primarily due to Phelia’s 10 second-half points, UConn never allowed even the faintest thought of a comeback. Fudd still shot the cover off the ball, finishing with 34 points. The defense still pestered SU’s point guards. Orange center Uche Izoje — who Auriemma hailed as the best player his team’s seen all year — was still blanketed in the post and rendered silent.
As the Huskies poured bucket after bucket through the teeth of Syracuse’s defense, the Orange bench looked stunned. How could you react any other way? They’d never been dealt an embarrassment like Monday. Not even close.
Legette-Jack couldn’t stand to see it. For all she’s built this year — building a 12-win team into one of the final 32 left in the NCAA Tournament — to have it end like this? It was disheartening.
“I just want the young people that’s in my locker room to have a fighting chance,” Legette-Jack said. “And I am grateful to be in an NCAA Tournament from where we’ve come from. But I think that we’ve earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius.”
That’s what UConn does to you. You’d rather play anyone else.
Syracuse is a better team than it showed Monday. But the Huskies are built to crush dreams in March. Built to embarrass opponents. Syracuse just got stuck on the tracks while a freight train came through. And its special 2025-26 season — which seemed to have so many storybook chapters — ended with an utter nightmare.
As Legette-Jack sat in the press room in the depths of Gampel Pavilion, she couldn’t help but be frustrated. If Monday was any indication, the Orange have work to do to hang with the best in March.
Legette-Jack turned this team into something special in one season. But if this program wants the next trip to the tournament — and, in all likelihood, Storrs — to be any different, that success needs to be sustained. So one day, she could be sitting in this press room, smiling ear-to-ear, celebrating a program-defining win over the Huskies.
Until that day, though, the Orange can only wonder what could’ve been.
