Olivia Schmitt’s career day advances Syracuse women’s basketball to the Round of 32

Madness has begun for the 9-seeded Syracuse women’s basketball team, which defeated the 8-seeded Iowa State Cyclones 72-63 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.   

Head coach Felisha Legette-Jack and her squad went out to Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT, with one goal in mind, and that was to upset the Cyclones. The Orange were 7.5-point underdogs without star guard Dominique Darius, who suffered a hand injury back in the ACC tournament.    

It was a back-and-forth first quarter, as the Cyclones led the Orange 14-11 at the end of the first quarter, but the second quarter proved pivotal for the Orange.

Syracuse outscored the Cyclones 30-12 in the second quarter, holding a 41-26 lead over Iowa at the break.

It was the emergence of sophomore guard Olivia Schmitt, who recorded a career-high 15 points on five three-pointers. All came in the first half. Schmitt averaged 1.3 points per game this season for the Orange and had the team’s biggest game.    

“We have to put our trust in the ones that have,” Schmitt said. “And we all did that. We really just had each other’s back, and we played for each other.” 

Alongside the performance of Schmitt, it was her teammate, freshman guard Uche Izoje, who led the way for Syracuse in the game with 23 points in 25 minutes played. 16 of Izoje’s 23 points came in the first half.    

Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images

Jada Williams No. 8 of the Iowa State Cyclones is defended by Journey Thompson No. 2 of the Syracuse Orange during the second half in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. (Photo by Joe Buglewicz/Getty Images)

“Without Dom being out there, we needed somebody to put that thing in the air,” Legette-Jack said. “And boy, did she do a great job.”

Throughout the contest, Iowa never went away. There were stretches in the third and fourth quarters when Audi Crooks had her way offensively, accounting for 37 of her team’s 63 points on 68% shooting from the field.

Crooks and the Cyclones had their way in the paint, scoring 42 points compared to just 10 for the Orange.  

As Iowa State was finding its game late, it was junior guard Sophie Burrows who caught fire, with 12 of her 14 points coming from the 6:13 mark in the fourth quarter, helping secure the win for the Orange.

Up until then, Burrows had only made a pair of free throws, and her first field goal came after she started the game 0-of-10 from the field.   

Syracuse advances to the second round for the first time since 2024, as they take on the No. 1 seed undefeated 35-0 UConn Huskies from the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT, on Monday at 6 p.m.