Syracuse women’s basketball boosted NCAA resume with win over Stanford

Syracuse, NY – Two March Madness hopefuls squared off at the JMA Wireless Dome on Sunday.

The Syracuse women’s basketball team was the No. 9 seed on ESPN entering the game. the latest bracketologywhile Stanford was the No. 7 seed.

Orange’s position is likely to improve in the next update. Syracuse (16-3, 6-2 ACC) improved its NCAA Tournament resume with a 69-58 win over Stanford (15-5, 4-3 ACC).

Felisha Legette-Jack’s team moved closer to their “championship aspirations” with arguably their biggest win of the season so far.

1/35

With leading scorer Laila Phelia missing her first game of the season with an injury, Dominique Darius led Syracuse with 26 points. The shy Hawkins added 10 points and SU’s defense held Stanford to just 34.8% shooting from the field.

Three days after blowing a 20-point lead before beating California in triple overtime, Syracuse was tasked with holding on to an 8-point lead in the fourth quarter against Stanford.

Sophie Burrows, who finished with 11 points, drained a 3-pointer in the quarter and Darius’ layup off one of Stanford’s 22 turnovers extended SU’s lead to 13.

The Cardinal got the deficit back to single digits, 56-47, after Chloe Clardy drained a 3-pointer with 5:49 left.

However, SU halted the momentum and after another Burrows transition score off a turnover – the Orange scored 24 points off the turnover – capped a 6-0 Syracuse run to extend the lead to 62-47 with 4:05 remaining.

Although Stanford cut its deficit back to nine over the next two minutes, it never threatened the Orange lead, especially when Legette-Jack’s team was hitting its free throws.

SU won despite Phelia being sidelined. Listed as a game decision on the ACC Availability Report, Phelia did not participate in warmups and sat on the bench in street clothes during the game.

Phelia suffered the injury at 7:23 of the second quarter in SU’s win against California. She returned about two minutes later and finished with 18 points in 39 minutes. While Phélia played in the first overtime, she did not play according to the second or third overtime.

Even without Phelia, Syracuse’s offense started strong. Sophie Burrows scored five points in the first 3:15. Meanwhile, Darius hit an early 3-pointer — similar to Thursday’s stepback game winner — and added seven more points in the quarter to help the Orange take a 21-17 lead.

SU extended its lead to 27-19 after Uche Izoje went in for a layup with 6:21 left in the half, but the Cardinal went on an 8-2 run to make it 29-27.

Still, the Orange never relinquished their lead, going on an 8-2 run to make it 37-29 at the half. While both Syracuse (15-of-28, 53.6%) and Stanford (12-of-24, 50%) were efficient offensively, 16 points off the Orange’s turnovers helped them take an 8-point halftime lead.

The third quarter turned into a defensive battle with each team scoring 12 points in 10 minutes.

When Syracuse went into triple overtime against Cal on Thursday, they blew a 16-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. Facing Stanford was a different story leading to a resume-boosting victory for the Orange.