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At her postgame press conference, Felisha Legette-Jack visualized a scene.

You’re walking to work. It seems like a comfortable stroll. Perhaps even the birds are chirping, and the sun is shining. All of a sudden, a car comes and hits you.

Don’t worry, you can stop imagining now. The fourth-year head coach didn’t mean to rain on your New Year’s parade. Rather, she’s trying to illustrate the unpredictability of playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference. If you’re not prepared, you’ll be a mere bug on a windshield.

“You got to deal with the reality that things can happen right away and fast and in a hurry,” Legette-Jack said. “This game is gonna prepare us to look both ways and not relax. Because until we get to our destination, until we finish the game, life can be tough.”

Indeed, Syracuse’s game against Florida State was anything but predictable. While the Orange led the entire game, it was perhaps the least comfortable win possible. SU dealt with several scares at the hands of the Seminoles, notably seeing a 12-point advantage dwindle to just two with a minute to play.

Nonetheless, the Orange (12-2, 2-1 ACC) showed up late, taking down Florida State (5-10, 0-3 ACC) 82-72 in a strangely too close for comfort affair. Syracuse took an early lead after a dominant first quarter and — despite FSU hanging within 10 points for the majority of the game — never trailed. Uche Izoje led the way with 21 points and 17 rebounds, while Dominique Darius tallied 19 points and five assists in the win.

“It’s gonna take the whole 40-plus minutes against anybody we play in this conference,” Legette-Jack said.

For Darius, the brief scare was mundane. It’s just a part of playing in the ACC.

“Any conference play is tough. We know teams are gonna go on runs, and it’s about how we respond to them,” Darius said. “As a team, we just got to stay positive. I think we did a great job of collecting, coming together and just communicating what we’re doing wrong.”

The Orange needed every bit of poise and togetherness late. They ended the third quarter up by 11 and led by as much as 12 early in the fourth.

But FSU stormed back with a 10-2 run. An Allie Kubek 3 from the top of the key pulled the Seminoles within one possession with three minutes to play, the smallest margin since the game’s first few minutes.

Syracuse extended the lead back to seven, but another 3 from Emma Risch put Florida State within three again. A free throw from Jasmine Shavers cut it to two.

Needing an offensive spark to pull out a win, SU turned to its stars.

Izoje got an alley-oop bucket down low with a minute left off a feed from Sophie Burrows. Then, Darius made a free throw to extend the lead to five. Laila Phelia hit one to make it six. Darius knocked down two more to put Syracuse up eight, and Burrows closed the game out with two more at the charity stripe. It proved to be just enough to squeak out a gritty win.

“Our poise in the fourth quarter was really important,” Burrows said. “We have that confidence in each other to bring the ball down the court, get into our sets and use the clock.”

Uche Izoje attacks inside in Syracuse’s 82-72 win over Florida State Thursday. Izoje notched a team-high 21 points and career-high 17 rebounds to pace SU’s frontcourt effort. Courtesy of Matthew Crisafulli | The Newshouse

Syracuse shot just 38.5% from the field in the final frame but went 10-for-14 from the line. It was the polar opposite of how it started the game — SU scored 26 points in the first quarter on 64.7% shooting.

Part of that was fueled by experimentation in the starting lineup. Burrows started the game on the bench for the first time this season in favor of Journey Thompson. Still, the familiar faces in the lineup led the charge early.

Phelia reached her spot inside the arc on SU’s first possession, knocking down a jumper near the left elbow. Then, Darius got to the rack for a layup before canning a 3. It helped the Orange sprint out to a 7-2 lead. An Izoje bucket and a Shy Hawkins and-1 put SU on top 13-5 four minutes in.

Burrows made her entrance right after and made an immediate impact. She swiped a steal before canning a 3-pointer before the first media timeout, putting Syracuse up 18-8.

“I just do what my team needs me to do, and if that’s coming off the bench, then that’s coming off the bench,” Burrows said. “I don’t think it really matters who starts. I think it’s more about who finishes.”

SU extended its advantage to 12 after back-to-back buckets from Jasmyn Cooper, forcing an FSU timeout with just over two minutes to play in the quarter. The Orange finished the first quarter with a double-digit advantage, one of the highest-scoring opening frames from Legette-Jack’s squad all season.

The second quarter indicated more of the same offensively after Phelia buried a 3 on the first possession. But from there, the Orange cooled down. A Darius 3 swirled in and out before Burrows airballed a jumper. Meanwhile, the Seminoles trimmed SU’s lead to eight after a quick 7-0 run in the frame’s first two minutes.

Most of the charge offensively was spearheaded by Solé Williams, who finished with a tied-for-game-high 21 points. However, the Orange effectively shut down second-leading scorer Shavers, who recorded just 10 points on the evening.

“​​I don’t think we did an amazing job,” Darius said. “I think, as a defender, as a competitor, you want to hold their best players to less points. I think (Williams) did a great job in getting to her spots, but I think as the game goes on, we need to adjust. I think we were letting them get to the paint too easily.”

“It doesn’t matter where they are in the rankings,
it’s always going to be a dog fight,” she added. “I’m just happy that we adjusted.”

Syracuse only stopped the bleeding on a second-chance bucket from Izoje three minutes in. It sparked a brief 6-2 run that restored the 12-point lead.

The squads exchanged buckets to end the first half. A last-minute layup from Aurora Almón helped SU preserve its double-digit advantage entering the intermission, but the Orange were outscored 19-17 in the second quarter, shooting just 36.8% from the field and 1-of-5 from 3.

The offensive struggles persisted early in the second half, as SU turned the ball over on its first two possessions, helping FSU trim its deficit to six. The Orange missed their first four field goals and first two free-throw attempts of the half.

Syracuse got two buckets in transition soon after, but Florida State hung around. Risch and Sydney Bowles nailed back-to-back 3s to cut SU’s lead to four with just over two minutes in the frame. Darius showed some signs of life for the Orange, though, responding with a 3-pointer.

It was just what Syracuse needed to shift the momentum. The Orange finished the quarter on an 8-1 run after buckets from Phelia, Darius and Burrows. SU carried a 62-51 advantage into the final frame.

Florida State again hung tough in the late stages of the fourth. Still, Syracuse saw it through for a crucial ACC win to kick off the new year.

“Ultimately, teams are gonna score,” Darius said. “So, how we talk to each other and how we keep uplifting each other is what really kept us in the game and allowed us to finish the game strong.”

As Legette-Jack alluded to, the ACC’s most prepared teams will be the ones that win. Last season, her squad was run over time and time again in conference play. She knows the bottom of the ACC isn’t where her program belongs.

This Syracuse team doesn’t want to be pedestrian anymore. But to be in the driver’s seat, it’ll have to withstand far more than a Florida State comeback.

Thursday, though, was a step toward Legette-Jack’s desired destination.

Published on January 1, 2026 at 8:11 pm
Contact Harris: harrispemberton@gmail.com | @HarrisPemb6