Second-Half Surge Leads to Syracuse Women’s Basketball’s 73-58 Win Over Wake Forest

By Jared Valentin | @JaredValentin_

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — When Syracuse women’s basketball (13-2, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) met up with Duke (9-6, 4-0 ACC) last Sunday, the Orange got outscored by 11 in the second quarter and failed to erase that deficit. However, fast forward to Sunday’s matchup with Wake Forest (12-4, 2-2 ACC) and SU flipped the script. The Orange maintained a one-point lead at halftime and outscored the Demon Deacons 23-8 in the third quarter to win 73-58 on the road and earn their third conference victory of the season.

After SU’s 32-31 advantage at the break, Syracuse and Wake Forest traded punches to begin the second-half. Orange guard Laila Phelia scored four quick points, while Demon Deacons guard Grace Oliver connected on a pair of layups. Then, guard Sophie Burrows drilled a triple to net her first points of the contest. After Wake Forest responded with two free throws, SU closed the quarter on a 14-2 run to jump in front for good. Individually, Burrows scored the most out of any player in the third period, racking up eight of her 14 points in the frame.

Syracuse also used its defense to generate easy points throughout the contest. The Orange forced nine steals, the third time in ACC play SU has tallied that many. Syracuse recorded 25 points off of Wake Forest’s 14 turnovers. When it was all said and done, Orange center Izoje Uche led all scorers with 18 points, Phelia tallied 17 and Burrows connected on four three-pointers. SU had four players in double figures.

Syracuse returns home and eyes its third straight win when it welcomes Virginia Tech (11-4, 1-2 ACC) to the Salt City Thursday evening. Tipoff is at 6 p.m. EST from the JMA Wireless Dome in Syracuse, N.Y. For all coverage of the second-half of the Orange’s season, follow @JaredValentin_ and @mhoffnyc on X/Twitter!