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Through seven games, it was difficult to judge just how good this year’s Syracuse women’s basketball team is.

While the Orange scooped up four easy nonconference wins against in-state foes to start the year, and even took down Utah 61-49 for their first Power Four win, SU ran into trouble when faced with one of the nation’s top dogs. The Orange were trounced 81-55 by then-No. 6 Michigan in their first real opportunity to prove themselves.

Wednesday’s ACC/SEC Challenge matchup with Auburn, albeit an unranked squad, was Syracuse’s next best chance. This time, the Orange passed.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (7-1, Atlantic Coast) 66-60 victory over Auburn (8-2, Southeastern):

Second-quarter shutdown

After the Tigers shot an efficient 50% from the field in the opening frame, Syracuse needed a convincing second quarter to stay in the game. And boy did it get one. The Orange pestered Auburn possession after possession, holding it to just six points in the second quarter. SU tallied seven steals and held Auburn to just 2-of-8 from the field.

Despite getting an early bucket from Mya Petticord to extend a three-point lead, the Tigers then embarked on a five-minute and 50-second scoring drought. It’s not necessarily that Auburn was missing shots, but the Orange just weren’t allowing it to take any. Aggressive on-ball defense forced quick decisions and errant passes, leading to 11 Auburn turnovers in the frame.

Two free throws from Kaitlyn Duhon broke the drought with 2:07 left in the half. Auburn didn’t record a field goal for another minute before Duhon sank a fast break layup.

While SU still wasn’t particularly efficient on the other end, the defensive effort gave it enough time to claw back and inevitably take a five-point advantage into halftime. It proved to be the frame that allowed Syracuse to hang around and eventually win the game.

Working the offensive glass

On paper, Syracuse shouldn’t have stood much of a chance on the boards against Auburn. The Tigers boast multiple players over 6-foot-5, including the second-tallest player in Division I, 6-foot-9 Arek Angui.

But as head coach Felisha Legette-Jack knows, height doesn’t always translate to rebounding. While it hasn’t always shown in her squad’s performances this year, she’s taught her team to be ferocious on the boards.

While the Orange were bound to be outrebounded again on Wednesday, they brought every bit of that intensity to the offensive glass, and it made an impact. Syracuse outrebounded Auburn 16-7 offensively. Eight of those came in the first half, leading to four crucial second-chance points.

The epitome of the effort was a late first-quarter possession, where the Orange snagged four consecutive offensive boards. First, Journey Thompson reeled in a miss from Laila Phelia near the baseline. Then Uche Izoje corralled an Angelica Velez miss, Phelia snagged Thompson’s missed jumper and Thompson grabbed the fourth board. The possession ended with Dominique Darius at the line for two free throws.

Every possession mattered in the six-point win, and SU’s work on the offensive glass enabled it a few extra chances offensively.

3s (still) won’t fall

Probably Syracuse’s most glaring weakness offensively this season has been from beyond the arc. Through seven games, SU was shooting just 27.8% from distance. It forced the Orange to rely on inside scoring early in the year, which worked again on Wednesday night, but still isn’t necessarily sustainable.

Syracuse went a pitiful 0-for-16 from beyond the arc. It’s SU’s worst 3-point shooting performance ever.

It wasn’t an issue that SU could’ve foreseen. It retained two of its proven snipers from last year in Sophie Burrows and Madeline Potts, but Burrows hasn’t recreated her efficiency, and Potts hasn’t been given the minutes to do so. Phelia entered the game as SU’s best 3-point shooter at 46.2% on 26 attempts, but she even struggled from deep, going 0-for-3. Darius went 0-for-5.

Burrows has particularly struggled from beyond the arc as of late, going 0-for-7 from deep against Michigan and 1-for-6 versus Howard. That trend continued Wednesday with a 0-for-4 performance, although she again showed she can be effective from inside the arc with 11 points.

While the Orange found a way to win, it’s a problem Syracuse can’t expect to overlook come conference play.

Izoje shines again

Throughout the offseason, Legette-Jack hyped up freshman center Izoje as much as any player on the roster. At times this year, she’s even said the Nigerian big could evolve into a Paige Bueckers or Hannah Hidalgo-type talent. That’d make her one of the best players the program’s ever seen.

And while her numbers aren’t exploding off the stat sheet yet, she’s quietly become Syracuse’s most consistent player. Her 20 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks Sunday against Howard earned her ACC Rookie of the Week honors, and she followed it up with 16 points, 13 boards and five blocks against Auburn.

While most of her work was done in the first half, she came up big in the late stages of the game. In overtime, she made a crucial block on Auburn’s second possession, allowing Syracuse to take the lead on its next possession. Then, she buried two free throws to retake the lead with a minute and a half left.

She’s become SU’s rock down low and anchor defensively, and it showed again in the Orange’s biggest win of the year thus far.

First overtime action

Syracuse played just one game that went to overtime last season, a one-point loss to SMU in January. But most of SU’s current squad wasn’t around for that. This year’s team is different in so many ways, and its fortune in Wednesday’s additional period showed it.

Darius led Syracuse’s charge offensively, hitting two tough shots to give it a 56-54 lead halfway through the period. The teams traded buckets from there, knotting up at 58. Then Phelia took over.

First, she got to the cup for a crucial and-1. Then, after Harissoum Coulibaly knocked down a tough shot, Phelia canned a turnaround jumper to restore the three-point lead. After a few stops defensively, the Orange closed the game out at the free throw line for their biggest statement of the year thus far.

Published on December 3, 2025 at 7:32 pm
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6