Syracuse women's basketball has a monumental task at hand on Monday night in the NCAA Tournament's second round. The No. 9 seed Orange will battle No. 1 seed UConn (35-0 overall) in Regional 1 action, and SU hasn't defeated Connecticut in 30 years.
The Huskies, the defending national champions, are the No. 1 overall seed in the 2026 Big Dance. In the first round, Connecticut crushed No. 16 seed UTSA, 90-52.
For the 'Cuse, SU (24-8 overall) defeated No. 8 seed Iowa State in the NCAA Tournament first round this past Saturday, 72-63. Freshman center Uche Izoje led the way with 23 points, while sophomore guard Olivia Schmitt knocked down five 3-pointers to finish with a career-high 15 points.
At the time of this writing, Syracuse women's basketball was a 35.5-point betting underdog to UConn, per FanDuel, with the over/under set at 139.5 points.
How to watch Syracuse women's basketball in the NCAA Tournament's round of 32.
The Orange and the Huskies are scheduled to tip off at 6 pm EST on Monday, March 23, with television coverage on ESPN. According to Syracuse Athletics, the 'Cuse is just 12-41 in its all-time series against UConn, and SU has not won a game in this series since January 2, 1996.
Syracuse women's basketball and Connecticut have Big Dance history together. When SU reached the 2016 national championship game, it played and lost to the Huskies. In the 2024 NCAA Tournament, the Orange, as a No. 6 seed, fell to No. 3 seed UConn in the second round.
In the latest NCAA NET rankings, Syracuse women's basketball is No. 39 overall, while the Huskies are No. 1. UConn scores 88.8 points per game and allows a mere 50.4 points. The Orange, conversely, averages 74.4 points per contest and gives up 63.4 points.
The 'Cuse holds a roughly five-rebound edge per contest over the Huskies, so hitting the glass hard will be crucial for Syracuse women's basketball. Also, a vastly important thing for the 'Cuse in this NCAA Tournament second-round encounter is taking care of the ball.
Syracuse women's basketball averages 15.8 turnovers per game, and Connecticut forces 15.7 steals per contest. Yikes.