Despite an inefficient performance on offense, the Syracuse Orange (18-4, 8-3) successfully halted a major comeback and came away from Coral Gables with its second Quadrant 1 win of the season. Syracuse defeated the Miami Hurricanes (12-10, 4-7) 65-60 on Sunday afternoon, beating a bubble opponent and moving to 4-1 on the road in 2025-26.
The Orange only shot 30% on the day, but an efficient performance from the free throw line (16/19) and a 15-8 advantage on points off turnovers was good enough to give the team a big-time victory against a “First Four Out” opponent in Miami. ‘Cuse and The U would stay close until the Orange blew the game open, going up as much as 19 points in the fourth quarter. The Hurricanes would trim that deficit down to as low as five points, but Syracuse would hang on in the end.
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Both Sophie Burrows (21 points on 7/14 shooting and 5/11 from three) and Laila Phelia (21 points, 12/14 from the foul line) would combine for 42 of the Orange’s 65 points. Three different players for Miami would end up in double-figures, led by 13 from each of Ra Shaya Kyle and Gal Raviv plus 10 from Soma Okolo.
Syracuse began the contest on the right note, especially on defense. On Miami’s first eight possessions, the Orange held it to 0/5 from the field with three turnovers. Dominique Darius got Syracuse on the board first. A layup from Sophie Burrows plus a few baskets by Shy Hawkins, including this and-one layup, would quickly put the team up 9-0.
Miami battled back quickly after Syracuse had a stretch where it missed nine straight looks and went totally quiet on offense. The U got three field goals in a row, one from each of Amarachi Kimpson, Ahnay Adams and Gal Raviv to trim the Orange’s lead down to two.
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Syracuse would remain scoreless for over four minutes as the ‘Canes went out on a 9-0 run. A three by Laila Phelia ended the dry spell and put the Orange back up ahead. Toward the end of the quarter, Burrows then converted on a three of her own with just seconds to go that would get ’Cuse back up by five (16-11) heading into the second. The first quarter saw both teams shoot a combined 11/35 (31%) from the field.
The scoring struggle would continue for each team for the rest of the first half. At one point, neither Miami nor Syracuse had converted a field goal for around five minutes of game time, each missing a combined 16 shots.
That said, Syracuse stayed out in front. Darius drilled a three to end the cold stretch. Shortly after, Izoje would finally get on the board after an 0/6 start by making this contested, turnaround jumper which put the Orange back up eight.
Despite only shooting 26% from the field in the first half, ’Cuse was still up 29-23 heading into the locker room. Phelia led the way for the Orange with eight points, followed by Hawkins with seven plus Burrows and Darius with five each. Three players for The U — Raviv, Kimpson and Kyle — each had six and combined for 18 of Miami’s 23 first-half points.
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The third quarter would see the Orange maintain their lead, but the Hurricanes continue to hang around. Burrows and Kyle trade baskets at the start of the quarter. A bucket by Miami’s Soma Okolo would trim Syracuse’s lead down to three before Burrows drilled her second three of the game to keep ‘Cuse ahead. Then, Izoje connected on back-to-back shots that would push the margin back up eight (39-31) by the media timeout.
Even with inefficiency on offense, Syracuse’s defense plus the team capitalizing on free throws would keep it out in front. Heading into the final quarter, the Orange entered with a 46-35 lead — their largest of the entire game.
As Miami continued to inch closer, Syracuse was able to get just enough baskets at the right time and soon got into a scoring groove.
After the Orange’s lead was cut down to seven, Burrows knocked down her fourth three of the game to keep the team out in front. Moments later, Syracuse would have a stretch where it made five straight shots from the field and go on a 12-0 run. That included another three by Burrows plus multiple scores from Phelia, at one point leading to Syracuse going up 58-39.
Once again, the Hurricanes would continue to battle all the way to the final buzzer.
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Even with a near 20-point lead, Syracuse’s offense went cold again late and Miami capitalized. Over a four-minute stretch, the Orange would miss seven in a row while the ‘Canes went on a 14-1 run, which included back-to-back threes from Kimpson and Raviv that would cut the Orange’s lead down to five (61-56) with 35 seconds to go. But with a chance to get the game down to one possession, Miami turned it over and Syracuse in the end would escape the 305 with a critical, resume-boosting victory.
Syracuse will look to keep the momentum going in its next game on Thursday night against Boston College.
