Her name is Uche Izoje. She’s a freshman. And tonight, she walks into Gampel Pavilion to face the most dominant team in women’s college basketball history.
Syracuse women’s basketball, picked dead last in the ACC preseason poll, is 24-8, has earned a 9-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and just punched their ticket to Round 2 by dropping Iowa State 72-63 on Friday night. Now they get #1 UConn: 35-0, reigning national champions, 50-game win streak, and the best defense in the country.
Nobody gave them a chance in August. They might not be done proving everyone wrong.
This story came from public records we pulled ourselves
Get the next one, plus overnight incidents, in your inbox at 6 AM. Free, no spam.
A Freshman Nobody Saw Coming
Uche Izoje wasn’t a household name heading into this season. She is now.
The freshman center from Nigeria is averaging 15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. She’s logged 13 double-doubles and earned ACC Rookie of the Year. Against Iowa State, she went for 23 points, 16 of them in the first half, and made it look easy.
She has 10 games of 20 or more points this season. She’s a freshman. Let that sink in.
And she wasn’t alone Friday. Olivia Schmitt, who averaged just 1.3 points per game all season, erupted for a career-high 15, drilling five straight three-pointers during a 23-8 run that blew the game open. Laila Phelia added 18. Sophie Burrows had 14 points and 9 rebounds. Journey Thompson pulled down a career-high-tying 13 boards.
This team has contributors everywhere. And right now, they believe.
What UConn Brings, And What They Don’t
Don’t sleep on the Huskies. UConn is 35-0. They’ve won 50 consecutive games. They’re allowing just 50.4 points per game, the best defense in the country. Sarah Strong is averaging 18.4 points per game and is the engine of this team.
But Paige Bueckers is gone. She went #1 in the 2025 WNBA Draft. And tonight, senior Azzi Fudd, who’s shooting over 44% from three at 17.8 points per game, plays her final game ever at Gampel Pavilion. This is an emotional night for UConn, too.
Syracuse enters as 35.5-point underdogs. Vegas doesn’t believe. The rest of the country doesn’t believe.
CNY should.
The Story Behind the Story: Felisha Legette-Jack
Here’s the part that makes tonight feel like something out of a movie.
Felisha Legette-Jack is a Syracuse native. Her #33 was the first jersey ever retired by SU for a women’s player. She didn’t just go to school here, she became the school. And now she’s coaching here, leading this team back to places it hasn’t been in a decade.
When SU’s athletic director was searching for a head coach in 2022, Geno Auriemma, the UConn head coach himself, personally called to endorse Legette-Jack. The man SU faces tonight believed in her enough to make that call.
He also knows what she brings. Auriemma recently said of this Syracuse team: “They’re physical. They’re aggressive.”
And Legette-Jack? She’s not backing down from anyone. “We won’t back down to anybody,” she said, “because our story matters to us more than anything else in this world.”
Thirty Years and Counting
SU has not beaten UConn since January 2, 1996. That is a 30-year losing streak. Most people watching tonight weren’t alive the last time Syracuse won that matchup.
A win tonight doesn’t just send them to the Sweet 16 for only the second time in program history, the first was 2016. It ends three decades of futility against the most storied program in the sport. It is history on multiple levels, happening at once, tonight, at 6PM.
Where to Watch
Tip-off is at 6PM ET tonight on ESPN. You can also stream on the ESPN app or Fubo. If you want to watch with a crowd, find a local bar with the game on, this is the kind of night CNY should be watching together.
Note: Dominique Darius is out with a hand injury, so SU’s rotation will be tested. Depth and heart will matter. This team has both.
A freshman nobody recruited heavily. A team picked 13th out of 13 in the preseason. A coach who bleeds Orange and grew up in the streets of this city. A 30-year drought. A 35-0 machine standing in their way.
Turn it on at 6. Let’s go, Syracuse.
