Syracuse University
16-4,6-3ACC
North Carolina
17-5,6-3ACC
Orange Fall Short in Overtime Against North Carolina
1/25/2026 2:26:00 PM | Women's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL, N.C.- The Syracuse women's basketball team (16-4, 6-3) fell to North Carolina (17-5, 6-3) in overtime, 77-71. Uche Izoje recorded a new career high of 27 points against the Tar Heels. Â
HOW IT HAPPENEDÂ
A jump ball violation gave the Orange possession early in the first quarter, where Dominique Darius would find the net to give Syracuse its first points of the game. Journey Thompson got her hands on the ball during a Tar Heels' drive, finding Sophie Burrows to complete a fastbreak layup. Off the bench, Shy Hawkins added two field goals to close out the first quarter trailing 19-15 to North Carolina.Â
Two field goals each by Darius and Laila Phelia evened the score at the start of the second quarter. North Carolina answered back to retake the lead, but Burrows' three-point bucket brought Syracuse right back up again. Darius pushed through the Tar Heels defense to sneak in a layup and take the lead for the first time in the game with two minutes and 13 seconds remaining in the half. North Carolina added one last two-point bucket to the board to tie the score 34-34 heading into the locker room.Â
After a back-and-forth start of the quarter, the Tar Heels were able to gain a nine-point lead over the Orange. Izoje's double-digit quarter as well as another three-point bucket from Darius kept Syracuse in the game, but North Carolina still maintained a slight advantage, leading 59-55 to finish the third quarter.Â
North Carolina extended its lead in the fourth quarter, but SU went on an 8-0 run to tie up the game with 49.6 seconds remaining. Izoje scored three field goals and three at the line in the fourth quarter to help close the gap. After North Carolina called a timeout, their awarded throw-in was intercepted by Phelia, giving 'Cuse possession with just 30 seconds left in the quarter. A missed floater was retrieved by the Tar Heels who were then called for a travel violation. Another timeout by North Carolina gave them one last scoring chance, but was unable to finish the drive, sending both teams into overtime tied 68-68.
Darius scored a field goal and a free throw in overtime, but it wasn't enough to catch up with the Tar Heels. North Carolina pulled away with the 77-71 victory on their home court.Â
OF NOTE
- Uche Izoje recorded a new career high, scoring 27 points against the Tar Heels.
- Izoje has now scored double-digit points in sixteen games this season, five of which she scored 20+ points.
- Izoje recorded her ninth double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds.
- Izoje is the first player since Alyssa Latham (Dec. 21, 2023- Jan. 4, 2024) to record three double doubles in a row ((22pts/ 13reb) vs. California (1/15), (12 pts/ 10 reb) vs. Stanford, Jan. 18, 2026 & (27 pts/12 reb) vs. North Carolina (1/25)).
- SU tallied 10 steals against North Carolina.
- 'Cuse scored 38 points in the paint. Â
UP NEXTÂ
Syracuse will welcome Georgia Tech to the JMA Wirless Dome on Thursday, January 29. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. on ACC Network Extra.
Tickets for Thursdays' ACC matchup are on sale now and can be purchased by visiting cuse.com/basketballtickets.
For more on the Syracuse women's basketball team, follow @CuseWBB on social media.Â
