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There have probably been easier weeks for the University of Pittsburgh’s women’s basketball program.

The first blow came two days ago, when the Associated Press reported six former Panthers players were filing a lawsuit against head coach Tory Verdi and the university, alleging he utilized abusive coaching methods and the university ignored their pleas for help.

The second blow came Thursday night, as an already hapless Pitt team was dealt an 84-51 home blowout at the hands of Syracuse. The Orange entered the match coming off a 19-point loss to Louisville, but they were riding hot with five wins in their last seven games before that. The Panthers, on the other hand, were not, and SU only added to their laundry list of troubles.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (20-5, 10-4 Atlantic Coast) win over Pitt (8-18, 1-12 ACC):

Same starters

The most obvious observation to pull from this contest didn’t come from the actual game itself. It came minutes before the opening tip.

For the fifth straight game, Felisha Legette-Jack opted for an unchanged starting five: Dominique Darius, Laila Phelia, Sophie Burrows, Shy Hawkins and Uche Izoje. It was the first time Legette-Jack has used the same five starters for five consecutive games since Dec. 28, 2025, when that group of five had a run of seven consecutive starts together.

Since that game, Legette-Jack has shaken her lineup around a bit, starting Journey Thompson and Aurora Almón at times in place of Hawkins to find her optimal combination. Hawkins started in Sunday’s loss to the Cardinals, but after being limited to just seven minutes, it seemed like a change might be in order again for SU’s starting five.

Nope. It’s been a journey all season for Legette-Jack, but starting Hawkins — who finished with six points on the day — seemed like a clear indication she’s finally decided on her preferred starting group.

All Izoje, all the time

Who do you think was SU’s first scorer Thursday? You don’t even have to watch the game to figure it out. If you’d been paying even a modicum of attention to Syracuse’s season thus far, you likely would’ve assumed it was Izoje with little hesitation.

And you would’ve been correct in that assumption. The Orange got off to a poor start on their first possession, when Izoje lost the ball in the paint for a turnover. But soon after, she rose for a mid-range jumper to get the Orange on the board first.

She didn’t stop from there. Izoje scored a fast-break layup on Syracuse’s next possession to make it 4-0 SU, and she showed off her playmaking early as well, dishing to Burrows on a cut to set up her layup, making it 13-6.

Toward the end of the first quarter, Izoje slowed down a little. But she kept going in the second with a turnaround jumper to give SU a 31-20 lead, and then scored on its next possession with a layup that made it 33-20. She finished the half with 10 points and the game with 18. It was a somewhat pedestrian performance by her standards, and yet, she was still arguably the best player on the court.

Because that’s what Izoje has often been this season. Before joining the Orange, Izoje took a 10-day trip to Okinawa, Japan, to acclimate herself to the nuances of American basketball. If her first 25 collegiate games have been any indication, whatever she did on that trip worked.

Sophie separates Syracuse

Heading out of the first quarter, Syracuse was only up 21-20 over the Panthers. It barely escaped those first 10 minutes with a lead, trailing 18-15 and 20-18 before a last-second Phelia triple gave the Orange the narrow advantage.

It wasn’t the kind of game SU could afford not to dominate. A shootout with Pitt — which entered Thursday with the ACC’s worst NET ranking at No. 257 — would’ve given the Panthers every opportunity to snag an upset win, handing Syracuse a potentially resume-ruining Quad 4 loss.

Someone had to step up, put this game out of reach and make the score reflect the orders of magnitude separating these two programs. Burrows was up for the task.

She’s often been in this position, expected to shoot Syracuse ahead in games that are closer than they realistically should be. She did so in SU’s 78-69 ACC-opening win over SMU back in December and sprang back into action to seal Syracuse’s 65-60 win over Miami nearly two months later.

And against the Panthers, she was ready to step up. Burrows opened the second frame with a triple to make it 24-20 and extended that cushion to seven on SU’s next possession. On the Orange’s third offensive possession, she drove into the paint for a layup, pushing the game to 29-20. She was tied for the team lead with 18 points, but her eight second-quarter points were the ones that truly put this game out of reach for the Panthers.

Darius dishes dimes

Earlier this season, The Daily Orange published an article saying Syracuse had finally solved its point guard woes — with a bit of an unconventional strategy.

Legette-Jack initially opted to start four-star freshman Camdyn Nelson at the point in SU’s first three games. But after she struggled to find a consistent shooting stroke, she was benched, and Legette-Jack opted to play Darius at the point. Darius had been more of a combo guard in her career, and less of a true “pass-first” point guard. But that article posited Darius’ unconventional style at the point was exactly what the Orange needed.

You might not even be able to call her style “unconventional” at this point. As the season has gone on, her passing has only improved, and she has begun to look like every bit of the “pass-first” point guard SU expected to see in Nelson.

She only scored 11 points Thursday but truly stole the show with her playmaking. She finished with a team-leading nine assists and managed to have a plus-29 plus/minus in just 20 minutes of play. Her best dish might’ve come in the second quarter, when she stepped around a Pitt defender to throw down a bounce pass directly to Izoje.

SU’s center finished that layup to make it 33-20, and the lead never shrank.

Published on February 12, 2026 at 7:50 pm
Contact Mauricio: mjpalmar@syr.edu | @mpalmarDO