Syracuse Women’s Basketball finds its groove against Sacred Heart in 75-48 opening win

After the 2025-2026 season ended, only four players from the original roster remained in early April. Tonight, a new-look squad found its first win of the 2026-2027 season. With the largest home opener crowd in program history, SU beat Sacred Heart 75-48.

“We’re just trying to do our part, and I think we’ve got some good pieces to the puzzle to grow our program,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack after the game. 

Tonight, transfers led the way with top point performances from forward Sarah Rambus, fifth-year guard Tyi Skinner and guard Emely Rodriguez. The three combined for 36 points overall.

Rambus joins the Orange after three seasons with Oregon, where she appeared in 100 games across three seasons and totaled 457 points, 210 rebounds, 55 assists, and 30 blocks.

For Skinner, her career path has jumped from Delaware, out to Arizona State, then back a bit east to SMU. For the Sun Devils, the Washington, D.C native ranked second in the then-Pac-12 by averaging 19.3 points per game as a junior. She spent the past two seasons battling injuries, but her quick-paced transition play set her up with 11 points, five assists and two steals on the night.

Rodriguez joins from No. 16 Iowa after finishing with 43 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 assists in six games. Injuries also plagued the majority of her season, but her Dome debut featured a 5-for-11 in the paint and a 3-for-6 downtown performance.

The Orange kicked things off early after scoring first and never giving up the lead or anything close to it. Syracuse’s defensive efforts proved to be valiant as the back court kept Sacred Heart 3-for-10 in the first. Headed into the locker room, the Orange held a 46-27 halftime advantage. 

In addition, turnovers were the name of the game. Syracuse forced 29 Pioneers turnovers, with 23 steals. 

Photo by Angelica Lux

While starter Tyi Skinner lead the team on offense, she only made 3 of 8 field goal attempts and capped off the night with 11 total points.

First-year forward Célaine Ricco had a breakout night, with a game-high seven steals in 15 minutes. The France native now has the fourth most in program history. 

“[Ricco] is just a big part of our game,” said Skinner. “She gets us going, not just this game but even in our exhibitions… there’s no surprise she brings the energy.”

The defense held Sacred Heart to 27% from the field and a little over 30% from downtown.

On the offensive end, four individual players for Syracuse finished with double-doubles on the day. Second-year center and 2025 ACC Rookie of the Year Uche Izoje posted 16 points along with 14 rebounds, marking her 15th double tally of her career. 

Sacred Heart kept the 6’3 sophomore at bay in the first half, going 3-for-13 from the field. However, she found her stride, finishing 9-for-17 with two charity stripe shots.

“My teammates just spoke to me, ‘Keep going, just forget about the miss and keep your head up,’” Izoje said. “It helped me.”

Overall, Syracuse finished the night going around 37% from the paint, 20% from beyond the arc and hit about 67% of its charity stripe shots. 

In the two teams’ third meeting in program history, the Orange beat the Pioneers for the first time since the 2005-2006 home opener. 

With a confident stride in front of a historic home opener crowd of 2,695, Syracuse will host Cornell on Sunday.