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A year ago, Syracuse entered the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament as the No. 3 Seed after tying its program record with 23 regular-season and 13 ACC wins. This season, it spent most of its conference slate in danger of making the postseason because three teams wouldn’t qualify in the expanded 18-team ACC.

After starting conference play 0-4 — their worst in-conference start since the 2005-06 season in the Big East — the Orange strung together enough wins to qualify for the ACC Tournament as the No. 13 seed. SU booked its ticket to Greensboro, North Carolina, in its penultimate regular-season game: an 83-65 win over Pittsburgh.

Syracuse met Boston College Sunday in its regular-season finale with a chance to boost its seeding and build momentum heading into the ACC Tournament. On Jan. 19, the Eagles destroyed the Orange 92-51 for the worst loss of head coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s three-year tenure at SU. Legette-Jack and forward Kyra Wood said the re-match was personal, and Syracuse ran away with an 82-57 victory, its biggest winning margin in conference play.

Now, the Orange head into the ACC Tournament looking to win five games in five days to materialize a long-shot March Madness bid.

Here’s what to know about the road ahead for Syracuse women’s basketball (12-17, 6-12 ACC) in the 2025 ACC Tournament:

1st round: No. 12 seed Boston College

Boston College was the only team SU played twice in its ACC schedule, and the two will face a third time on Wednesday, three days after their last meeting.

BC dismantled a Georgia Woolley-less SU on Jan. 19 in its nadir of the season, leaving Legette-Jack saying the Orange were in a “rebuild situation.” From the outset, nothing went right for SU; it trailed 32-9 after one quarter and the Eagles scored at will for the rest of the day, finishing with a 51.5% field goal percentage, 55.6% 3-point percentage and 46-18 points in the paint advantage.

However, the Orange flipped the script in their regular-season finale. They built a 45-20 halftime lead and shot a strong 42.9%, forced 21 Eagles turnovers and outscored BC 50-32 inside.

Syracuse showed it’s grown immensely since its walloping in Chestnut Hill. One potential boost for BC in the teams’ third rendition is the return of leading scorer T’yana Todd, who missed Sunday’s contest with a lower-body injury. But the Orange should be in a position to win a game in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2021.

Cole Ross | Digital Design Director

2nd round: No. 5 seed North Carolina

If Syracuse defeats BC, it will face No. 5 seed North Carolina. The Orange played the Tar Heels just under two weeks ago, and despite an unfavorable result for SU, the score looked promising.

Despite then-No. 9 UNC having the best defense in the ACC — averaging a conference-best 57.5 points allowed — the game remained close most of the way. Syracuse trailed 35-25 at halftime, and despite equalizing with North Carolina in the second half, it fell 68-58. UNC was without leading scorer Alyssa Ustby but still destroyed the Orange in the paint behind center Maria Gakdeng’s double-double.

Since facing Syracuse on Feb. 20, UNC has started to slip. It lost consecutive games to then-No. 16 Duke and Virginia, surrendering a potential double bye in the tournament. Since exiting with an injury versus NC State, Ustby — who averages 10.7 points and 9.4 rebounds per contest — has missed the Tar Heels’ last four games. If Ustby is again out to begin the ACC Tournament, Syracuse may stand a chance.

Quarterfinal: No. 4 seed Florida State

A return to the ACC Quarterfinal, where SU started its ACC Tournament slate last season, would feature the same opponent as a year ago. The No. 3 seed Orange were outmatched by No. 6 seed Florida State 78-65 on March 8, 2024. The score indicated the matchup was closer than it was. FSU led by as many as 27, powered by Ta’Niya Latson’s 25 points.

Latson is back for the Seminoles, and her 25.4 points per game this campaign leads Division I players. Her scoring prowess was on full display when SU lost to FSU 85-73 in Tallahassee on Jan. 5. The junior again registered 25 points, seven assists and six steals. Meanwhile, Woolley had her worst shooting day of the season, scoring 12 points on a 2-for-16 (12.5%) clip from the floor.

Florida State has the best offense in the ACC, averaging 88.2 points per game, but it also features the worst defense, allowing 71.5 points per contest, just below SU’s 71.3 points. If Syracuse wants to down the Seminoles and keep its unlikely run going, it’ll need to win in a shootout.

Semifinal: Likely No. 1 seed NC State

While there’s a possibility the winner of No. 8 seed Virginia Tech and No. 9 seed Georgia Tech could beat No. 1 seed NC State, SU would likely play the Wolfpack if it got this far.

The two squads played on Jan. 23 in a much closer game than their records indicated, as SU jumped out to a 42-32 halftime lead over then-No. 20 NC State. But similar to many of its games this year, Syracuse collapsed in the second half and lost 74-66. The game was defined by the Orange’s offensive struggles, shooting 36.5% from the field and 5-of-24 (20.8%) from 3 in the loss.

After a Final Four run last year, NC State is undoubtedly one of the best teams in the country again. It defeated then-No. 1 Notre Dame in double overtime on Feb. 23 and shared the conference regular-season title with the Fighting Irish. The Wolfpack are efficient all over the court, posting the eighth-lowest turnover rate (14.1%) and the lowest foul rate (14.2%) in the nation, per HerHoopStats. Beating NC State — winners of 13 of its last 14 contests — would be a tough task for Syracuse.

Championship: Likely No. 2 seed Notre Dame or No. 3 seed Duke

If the Orange ripped off four wins in four days and made the ACC Championship game, it’d have to defeat another of the conference’s juggernauts to snag the title. That would probably be No. 2 seed Notre Dame or No. 3 seed Duke.

Both squads handed Syracuse some of its worst losses this campaign. In SU’s ACC opener on Dec. 8, it was handily beaten by the Fighting Irish 93-62. While it was just a seven-point game at halftime, Notre Dame pulled away, led by Sonia Citron, Hannah Hidalgo and Olivia Miles’ 20-plus point nights. The Orange’s bout with the Blue Devils was even worse — getting crushed 80-49 on Feb. 23. SU posted its worst quarter and half of the year, scoring just six in the second quarter and 19 in the first half.

Notre Dame has lost just four games this year, but two of those came within its last three games, falling to NC State and FSU. Still, led by Hidalgo’s 24.2 points per game, which ranks third in the nation, the Fighting Irish have the best 3-point percentage (40.3%) and third-highest field goal percentage (49.2%) nationally, according to HerHoopStats.

While Duke isn’t as strong offensively, it’s headlined by its defense that allowed 58.5 points per game, the second-best clip in the ACC. The Blue Devils also hold opponents to a 45.1% rebounding rate and force 20.9 opponent turnovers per game, both top-25 marks.

Published on March 4, 2025 at 7:42 pm

Contact Noah: njnussba@syr.edu | @ Noahnuss99