Syracuse women’s basketball beats Iowa State, advances to NCAA Tournament 2nd Round

Mar 21, 2026; Storrs, CT, USA; Syracuse Orange guard Olivia Schmitt (3) shoots for three points against the Iowa State Cyclones in the first half at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images STORRS, CT — For the ninth time in program history, the Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team is walking away with a first round victory in the NCAA Tournament.

The ninth-seeded Orange (24-8) defeated the eighth-seeded Iowa State Cyclones (22-10) 72-63 on Saturday night. After a defensive battle early on, the second quarter would prove to be the one which decided the entire contest. Syracuse scored 30 in the period, its most in an NCAA Tournament game since 2017 (ironically, also against Iowa State in the 8-9 game and in Storrs).

Olivia Schmitt’s heat check performance in the period – a career-high 15 points on 5/6 from three — gave the Orange the big lead they would managed to hold the rest of the way. Outside Schmitt (who’s performance was especially big considering the team was without starting guard Dominique Darius), Syracuse also had double-digit scoring efforts from Uche Izoje (23 points on 11/19 shooting), Laila Phelia (18 points) and Sophie Burrows (14 points and 9 rebounds). Journey Thompson played over 30 minutes and didn’t score, but collected a team-high 12 rebounds.

As for the Cyclones, Audi Crooks shined as expected with a game-high 37 points on 17/25 shooting. But outside she and Jada Williams (14 points on 5/13 shooting), no other Iowa State player finished with more than five points. The Orange held the Cyclones to 39% shooting, but anyone not named Crooks combined to shoot 8/42 on the day.