The Syracuse women’s basketball team skated through the first half of the 2025-26 schedule, dropping just one game, that to a top-10 team. MIchigan.

Tougher days could be ahead now that the Orange have landed in the Atlantic Coast Conference portion of their schedule, however. Visiting Duke posted a decisive 71-51 win against the Orange (11-2, 1-1) on Sunday at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The shooting stats for the two teams were remarkably similar.

Duke made 26 of 64 field-goal attempts; Syracuse hit 22 of 64. Both connected on just two 3-point attempts.

The F-word: fouls

The difference? Fouls.

Syracuse and Duke (7-6, 2-0 ACC) played to an even first quarter, tied 14-14. But the tone of the game changed when Syracuse center Uche Izoje left the game after committing her second foul at the 7:15 mark of the second quarter.

She didn’t return until the start of the third quarter and picked up two more fouls before fouling out with 6:54 left in the game.

The foul trouble limited Izoje to eight points and four rebounds in 18 minutes, well down from her season averages of 13.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 23.6 minutes.

“I’d like to see [Izoje] play 34 minutes,” Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “We just got to figure out how the calls are going to be called to keep her on the floor because she’s one of the best players in the conference, arguably in the country.”

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The Blue Devils were able to capitalize at the free-throw line, converting 70.8% of their attempts (17 of 24).

The Orange made just 41.7% of their attempts (5 of 12) to fall to 68.1 % for the season from the line.

Dominique Darius led the Orange with 18 points, and Laila Phelia tallied 11. Darius recorded double-digit point totals for the ninth time this season. 

For Duke, Toby Fournier had a game-high 22 points. Ashlon Jackson and Riley Nelson each scored 11 points.

Darius chose to find a positive in the loss.

“This is good for us,” she said. “The losses suck, but these are the types of losses that build character and resilience. So it’s really going to come down to how we respond.”

A disappointed Legette-Jack summed up how things went, postgame.

“This is a good team that had a tough day,” she said. “We didn’t make the right adjustments. I didn’t make the right adjustments.”

The Orange return to play Thursday at 6 p.m. in a home game against Florida State.

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