The top-seed UConn Huskies weren’t going to let the Syracuse Orange hang around this time. Unlike the last time these two schools met in the NCAA Tournament, UConn pressed Syracuse and converted turnovers into baskets as they ran away with a 98-45 win.
Azzi Fudd had a career-high of 34 points to lead UConn. Sarah Strong and Blanca Quiñonez both had 18 as the undefeated Huskies were too much for Syracuse. Fudd was 8-11 from 3 and the Huskies were 13-26 from deep as a team.
Advertisement
Uche Izoje led Syracuse with 12 points, Lelia Phelia added 10 while Keira Scott and Journey Thompson had 6 each. Thompson’s 8 rebounds were tops for the Orange who made just 1-18 from 3.
Syracuse’s offense was stymied from the start as they couldn’t get a couple of early looks to fall. The Orange were only down 14-6 after Izoje hit two jumpers, but two straight turnovers allowed UConn to find their shooting touch. It was a 19-2 run the rest of the quarter as Syracuse struggled to handle the full-court pressure.
A 31-0 run over 10 minutes in the first half turned the game from a blowout into a beatdown. The Huskies just overwhelmed Syracuse and with 13 steals, and the Orange never got into any sort of offense. At the break it was 65-12 and UConn was 9-15 from 3 and had 20 assists.
To their credit, Syracuse battled in the 3rd quarter playing the Huskies even as UConn backed off the full-court pressure and Phelia was able to find some room to operate on the offensive end. Liv Schmitt hit a 3 and the Orange were able to continue to fight until the end of the game.
With both teams employing their bench in the final quarter, we saw Syracuse match the Huskies with 16 points in the final fram. There’s not a lot you can take from a loss like this, but the Orange got some post-season experience and a taste of what they need to do if they want to compete at the highest level.
Syracuse ends the season with a 24-9 record and now enter into an important off-season. The last time the Orange had a freshman like Izoje was with Kamilla Cardoso, so the first priority is to secuse Uche’s return and look to build around the ACC’s Rookie of the Year. With Lelia Phelia’s departute and the uncertainty of Dominique Darius’ appeal, the Orange will need to find some scoring help from the portal.
Advertisement
Keep it here throughout the post-season as we keep an eye on the player movement as Felisha Legette-Jack builds the 26-27 roster.
