Despite trailing leading scorer Laila Phelia, the Syracuse Orange (16-3, 6-2) relied on defense and a season-best performance from Dominique Darius to defeat the Stanford Cardinal (15-5, 4-3) on Sunday, 69-58.
Darius finished with 26 points (6/13 from the field, 12/12 from the free throw line), her highest score as a member of the Orange team. Uche Izoye (12 points, 10 rebounds, 2 blocks, 2 steals) notched her eighth double-double of the year, while Sophie Burrows (11 points) and Shay Hawkins (10 points) also contributed offensively. Syracuse earned its second Quadrant 2 win of the 2025-26 season and will make it three straight in its next ACC game.
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Turnovers proved to be the deciding factor, as the Orange forced Stanford to give up the game 22 times. Kuss scored nine more points than the Cardinals off turnovers and five points in transition. Despite a hot start, Stanford shot less than 35% from the field for the entire game. Lara Somfai (17 points and eight rebounds) and Nunu Agara (14 points) were the only Cardinals to score in double figures.
Stanford’s offense found its groove early, hitting five of its first six field goals. Agara will be the first two, with Darius and Burrows responding to each of the Orange’s. Then the two hit three-pointers, and Kus led by six points (10-4).
Stanford then went on a 9-0 run behind some baskets from Somfaye before Hawkins’ jumper brought the Orange within one (13-12) heading into the first media timeout.
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Darius continued his hot streak, scoring three straight points and going on a 7-0 run that ultimately gave Syracuse another six-point lead before Chloe Clardy responded with a layup for Stanford. The Orange ended the first quarter with a 21-17 lead, two draws and five leads. Syracuse (9/16) and Stanford (7/12) both shot better than 55% entering the second quarter.
The game remained close throughout the remainder of the first half. Syracuse hit two field goals early on, including a steal from Olivia Schmidt and a hard-hit jumper from Kayla Scott as the shot clock expired. Izoye also added his second goal of the game to give the Orange their largest lead yet (27-19), but a couple of baskets from Shay Ijiwoye pulled the Cardinal within two with just minutes left before halftime.
The inside battle between Izoje and Somfai, two of the ACC’s best interior scorers, continued for the rest of the quarter, but the Orange held on to the lead and went into the locker room 37-29. Darius led Syracuse with 14 points, while Izoje had eight points and Hawkins had six points. Somfaye led all scorers with 15 points and accounted for more than half of Stanford’s 29 points through two quarters. The Orange also forced 13 Cardinals turnovers in the first half.
Journey Thompson led the Orange at the start of the third quarter, grabbing an offensive rebound and scoring. After halftime, both teams struggled to put the ball in the basket, with neither team making a field goal for three minutes until Izoye ended the cold period with a pass from Burrows. Coos still led 42-33 at the halfway point of the quarter.
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The score wouldn’t get any easier down the stretch, but a couple of tough jumpers from Hawkins and a driving layup by Darius over the Stanford defender trapped the Cardinal and the Orange led 49-41 into the fourth quarter.
Burrows hit a three-pointer from the wing, Darius took a pass from Scott and scored in transition, and the Orange scored the first five points in the final quarter. The Orange now led by 13 points (54-41), their largest lead of the game, but 3-pointers from Courtney Ogden and Clardy would keep Stanford within reach.
But this time it was another transition score from Burrows that gave Syracuse a 15-point lead and ultimately the lead the rest of the way in the program’s first-ever win over Stanford.
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The Orange will take a week off and return to the court next Sunday for another key conference game, this time on the road against the North Carolina Tar Heels (14-5, 3-3).
