Support The Daily Orange this holiday season! The money raised between now and the end of the year will go directly toward aiding our students. Donate today.

Across Syracuse’s four-game win streak, the Orange have done what good teams do — just find ways to win.

Entering Tuesday’s matchup with Binghamton, Syracuse was fresh off victories over a wide variety of squads, from a Southeastern Conference opponent to more in-state foes, and even its first Atlantic Coast Conference action. And while it hasn’t always been pretty, the Orange have attacked teams in all kinds of ways.

Against Auburn on Dec. 3, that meant relying on inside scoring to overcome 16 missed 3s. Against SMU Dec. 7, the Orange heated up from beyond the arc, led by Sophie Burrows’ season-high 22 points. Last time out against Colgate, SU dominated the glass en route to a 46-point win.

While Tuesday’s bout versus the Bearcats shouldn’t have been much of a challenge on paper, the Orange continued to roll through the end of their nonconference slate, taking home a 72-54 win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (10-1, 1-0 ACC) victory over Binghamton (6-4, 0-0 America East):

Slow start

In Syracuse’s contest with Colgate on Dec. 10, the Orange used a 24-5 first-quarter advantage to kickstart a dominant win. On Tuesday, SU was far slower out of the gates.

Syracuse led just 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, starting the game just 6-for-16 from the field, 0-for-3 from 3 and 0-for-3 from the free-throw line. Uche Izoje was SU’s bright spot, scoring four of the Orange’s 10 points, although she accounted for all of their misses from the charity stripe.

SU didn’t get going offensively until the final moments of the first, when Izoje was fouled on a made layup. A late bucket from Keira Scott allowed the Orange to regain a narrow advantage at the end of the quarter, but it was far from a sufficient lead.

However, Dominique Darius got the second quarter started with back-to-back 3s to widen the gap, and the Orange never looked back.

Darius takes over

Darius, who’s taken the reins as SU’s point guard this season, has arguably been Syracuse’s most valuable player through 11 games. She’s been SU’s spark defensively, and is quietly having the best offensive season of her five-year collegiate career.

Against Colgate, she demonstrated her ability to facilitate with 10 assists. Darius finished with 17 points, five rebounds and five assists, but she took over the early second quarter to guide the Orange to a lead they never relinquished.

It began with a 3-pointer from the right wing on SU’s first possession of the quarter. Then, Darius nailed another from the left corner to extend the Orange lead to five. On SU’s next trip down the court, she set up Izoje for a bucket down low before nailing back-to-back jumpers of her own.

Even when Binghamton threatened with an 11-0 run, the Orange turned to Darius to stop the bleeding. She sank two free throws with just under two minutes to play, which sparked a 4-0 SU run to end the half up double digits.

2nd-chance buckets

Through 10 games, Syracuse had dominated the glass like few other teams across the country. The Orange ranked third of 363 Division I teams with 18.6 offensive rebounds per game, per HerHoopStats. With that, SU has had far more opportunities offensively and has capitalized.

Tuesday was no different. Although the Orange totaled 29 defensive rebounds, SU nabbed 26 on the offensive glass, leading to 26 second-chance points.

At the half, the Orange had tallied 13 second-chance points to Binghamton’s one. It paved the way for an 11-point halftime advantage.

The number of extra opportunities only grew in the second half. Syracuse hauled in a whopping seven offensive boards in the first five minutes of the third quarter, contributing to six second-chance points. Izoje picked up five boards in that span alone, part of her 14 total rebounds and third double-double of the year.

The Orange snagged another eight in the fourth quarter, increasing one of the nation’s best averages on the offensive glass. It contributed to an overall 55-32 advantage on the boards.

Backup bigs

Izoje has undoubtedly been Syracuse’s X-factor through 10 games, averaging 12.3 points, 7.4 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game. SU head coach Felisha Legette-Jack even hailed her as a potential generational talent.

The main issue, though, has been Izoje’s availability. The Nigerian freshman has struggled to avoid foul trouble in the early stages of her collegiate career. So, the Orange have needed a solid backup big.

Although SU acquired both Aurora Almón and Oyindamola Akinbolawa in the transfer portal this offseason from Miami and Auburn, respectively, neither has played much of a role behind Izoje.

On Tuesday, though, the Orange turned to Almón off the bench, and she turned in her best performance of the season thus far. She similarly dominated the glass like Izoje, hauling in nine rebounds, including four offensive boards. She also added four points on 2-of-3 shooting. Akinbolawa also checked in late in the game, contributing two points and three rebounds.

Based on the way she’s started the season, SU probably wants to have Izoje on the court as often as it can, but that won’t be possible in the thick of ACC play. If the Orange can rely on their backup bigs to consistently contribute, they’ll receive a major boost when their star center is in foul trouble.

Published on December 16, 2025 at 9:01 pm
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6