The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team is now less than a month away from beginning its fifth year under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, and talk about what a season it could be.
The reigning ACC Rookie of the Year, Uche Izoje, returns, but the roster includes plenty of new faces. The Orange also face an intriguing schedule ahead, and there’s plenty to unpack after a busy offseason. With the start of the 2026-27 campaign on the horizon, here is a look at the biggest storylines for Syracuse women’s basketball:
Izoje’s breakout potential
The sophomore center, by far and away, was the biggest reason for Syracuse’s turnaround last year.
Izoje averaged 15.6 points, 9.2 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 1.0 steals, and an ACC-high 2.6 blocks per game. That first-year performance earned her a spot on the All-ACC first team.
With Izoje leading the way, Syracuse doubled its overall and conference win total from 2024-25 to 2025-26.
Heading into the new year, national outlets like ESPN are already labeling her as a breakout candidate. Offensively, she’s got post moves galore and can score with her back to the basket or turning around. Defensively, so long as she stays out of foul trouble, Izoje gives the Orange a good defensive floor.
Having her back is quite a big deal for the FLJ and the program. She will be the star and the biggest key if Syracuse can get to two straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the first time in Legette-Jack’s tenure.
A whole new backcourt
The roster around Izoje will be quite different in 2026-27. Including Izoje, just four other players (Keira Scott, Olivia Schmitt, Angelica Velez, and Shy Hawkins) from last year’s team are back. The losses include Syracuse’s experienced backcourt of Laila Phelia and Dominique Darius.
Both proved to be high-risk, yet high-reward additions to the Orange roster last offseason.
Coming off injury, Phelia (14-3-1-2) provided perimeter scoring to complement Izoje. Darius (13-4-4-2) gave the Orange a steady playmaker who also could create. Underratedly, the duo combined for nearly four steals a game, taking advantage of Izoje’s paint defense to take more gambles and pick off passes.
With Phelia and Darius gone, FLJ ran the playbook back and added experienced guards, like Iowa transfer Emely Rodriguez (12-5-1-1-1 in 2024-25) and SMU transfer Tyi Skinner (14-3-3-1 for her career), both of whom had shortened stints at their most recent schools.
For FLJ, the new backcourt pairing can still be a pest defensively while giving Syracuse enough scoring help alongside Izoje.
Senior-heavy portal class
Going back to the point mentioned above, fans will notice plenty of new names on the court and on the bench.
Syracuse added eight players in the offseason, four in the portal and four recruits. The full list includes transfers Rodriguez, Skinner, Temple forward Jaleesa Molina (10-7-2-2), and Oregon forward Sarah Rambus (6-2-1). Guard Madison Howard, guard Elif Çayir, forward Destiny Robinson, and forward Célaine Ricco round out the new additions.
Of note, all four of the Orange’s portal additions are either seniors or fifth-year players. Like Rodriguez and Skinner, Molina and Rambus will have the vital job of backing up Izoje or even playing alongside her in spot minutes.
The new freshman will obviously be tough to project as of now, but either way, there are potential depth pieces there over the course of a long season.
The junior class
This is easily the biggest swing group on the roster.
Schmitt (2-1-2-1), Scott (3-2), and Hawkins (5-2-1-1) have played sparingly so far at Syracuse. Hawkins is the only one to top 15 minutes per game. Scott was under 10 MPG last season. Schmitt memorably had a breakout game against Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament, but she’s only at just over 12 MPG over two years.
Departures at forward could leave an opportunity for Hawkins and Scott to be pushed into larger roles. If Schmitt can be that outside perimeter spark in any capacity, that’s a win for the Orange.
Collectively, they are what remains of a roster which lost over half its tournament team from the year prior. Keep an eye on how they are used.
How Syracuse stacks up in the conference
The formula is simple: if the Orange win at least half their conference games, they’ll be in the tournament conversation.
That trend has manifested in the FLJ era. In her first year, Syracuse went 9-9 against the ACC and was right on the outside the bubble. During the two tournament seasons of 2023-24 and 2025-26, it got 12 and 13 wins, respectively.
ESPN projects nine ACC teams will make the 2027 NCAA Tournament, according to its most recent bracketology. That number could change, but it’s typically around there. It was nine last season, and eight the year prior.
Outside one anomaly campaign (2024-25), Syracuse has, at bare minimum, been middle of the pack or top-third in the ACC. If it keeps that going, the Orange should be in line to dance.
An interesting year for FLJ
FLJ has done a lot for the program since beginning her time at Syracuse. The one thing Legette-Jack will look to achieve that she hasn’t yet: two straight seasons making the NCAA Tournament.
To get there will certainly be a journey.
FLJ no longer has any players she brought in initially, especially from Buffalo, when she arrived on campus (Sophie Burrows was the last). This roster features all new faces, a clear portal strategy, and several recruiting class cycles. At the center of it all, there’s putting Izoje in the best possible spot to succeed and lead the Orange.
Buckle in, folks: 2026-27 is about to be a good one.