The Syracuse University women's basketball team's quest to win a conference championship ended with an 87-61 loss to Louisville on Friday in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament quarterfinals. Leading the way for the Orange was recently named ACC Rookie of the Year Uche Izoje. who had 22 points and nine rebounds.  Junior Sophie Burrows added 12 points and nine rebounds.

The Orange entered the matchup knowing they would be without senior standout Dominique Darius, who was ruled out for the game following a collision with a California player in the previous round. Her absence was certainly felt.

Darius' status for the NCAA tournament later this month is still to be announced - assuming the Orange earn an at-large bid.

The Cardinals advanced to the next round with a balanced approach of strong defense and efficient offense. Louisville's winning performance was led by three players off the bench who posted double-digit scoring totals.

Reyna Scott's 15-point total trailed only starter Tajianna Roberts' 17 points in the stat sheet. Skylar Jones scored 12 points in just 15 minutes of action while her teammate, Imari Berry, netted 11 in her role as a bench contributor. 

The Cardinals outscored the Orange by double-digits in three of the four quarters. Louisville shot 56 percent from the field and 41 percent from three- point range. Louisville will advance to take on either No. 3-seed North Carolina or No. 6-seed Virginia Tech in the semifinals at 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

Now that Syracuse's ACC tournament run has ended, the Orange will now wait nine days for their postseason future to be determined. The bracket reveal is Sunday, March 15 at 8 p.m. ET. According to ESPN's most recent projections, Syracuse would be selected as a No. 8 seed. 

Since 2022, the women have matched the men with a total of 68 teams selected for the annual championship tournament. In both tournaments, 31 bids are determined by automatic bids awarded to conference tournament champions. The other 37 bids are determined by a selection committee. 

For the men's bracket, each game of the tournament is played at a neutral site. In the women's tournament, the top 16 seeds will host the first and second rounds of tournament games. There is also a First Four, same as the men.

The men's first and second round action will take place from March 19-22. The women's action starts just one day later and extends to March 23.  The women's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight will be held in Forth Worth, Texas and Sacramento, Calif. The Final Four and National Championship game are set to be played in Phoenix, Ariz.

The title game is Sunday, April 5, one day before the men's championship game. 

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