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The UConn women’s basketball Huskies continued their perfect season with a blowout victory, 98-45, over the Syracuse Orange in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Monday night at Gampel Pavilion.
This marked the third straight NCAA Tournament appearance in which the Orange’s season ended at the hands of the Huskies, and Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack voiced her frustration with that fact during her postgame press conference.
The Orange made the tournament in 2021 before Legette-Jack took over the program from Quentin Hillsman, losing in similar blowout fashion to the Huskies, 83-47. When Legette-Jack took over and eventually led the Orange to the 2024 tournament, it was a much closer defeat, 72-64, albeit at the hands of UConn again.
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Felisha Legette-Jack of the Syracuse Orange reacts during a second round game against the UConn Huskies in the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 23, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Sean Elliot/NCAA Photos)
Now, in 2026, after going 24-8 on the season, Legette-Jack felt her team deserved a shot elsewhere. But the selection committee that assembles the bracket for the NCAA Tournament had a potential matchup with the Huskies scheduled on their home court if they both made it out of the first round.
After doing so, the game was sealed and the result was ugly as UConn put together a record-breaking 31-0 run in the first half, eventually putting the game out of reach before the third quarter began. It was a 65-12 halftime deficit, and Huskies legendary head coach Geno Auriemma eased off the gas with his second-half starters.
So Legette-Jack expressed her frustrations in a powerful opening statement.
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“For us and what we’ve done, our body of work, to come to play the best team in the country. Geno has this and I love what he’s done. But we, I thought, deserved more respect after being in this business for 37 years. To have to come and be in this particular bracket every damn year is unacceptable. It’s wrong,” she said.
Legette-Jack even wondered if someone on the selection committee has a gripe with her, considering one of her previous head coaching stops in Buffalo saw a loss to UConn in the Sweet 16 of the 2019 tournament.
“If you’re on the committee and you’ve been around for more than a year or two — five to 10, 15 years — you understand what that looks like,” she continued. “I’ve been on those committees to see how it’s done, how you can put people on different lines. Put us on the 10 line. But for us to continue to come to Connecticut, year after year after year, to me is a personal attack. Because I just think we’re way better than what we did today. But I think what you’re going to notice in everybody that comes through Geno and can bring.
Felisha Legette-Jack of the Syracuse Orange looks on during the UConn Huskies versus the Syracuse Orange NCAA Women’s Championship Second Round on March 23, 2026 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, CT. (M. Anthony Nesmith/Icon Sportswire)
“I just know this team right here had a strong chance to get beyond this particular level.”
Legette-Jack said she hopes she is “not disrespecting anyone” or “bringing shame to Syracuse like crying [over] spilled milk.”
“But after a while, I’ve never said anything in this kind of light before. … I just want my guys that are in my locker room to have a fighting chance. I’m thankful to be in the NCAA Tournament where we came from, but I think we’ve earned the right to go anywhere outside of a four-hour radius. That’s all I got.”
The NCAA Tournament brackets are made by selecting 68 teams, seeding them from number one to 16 per region and then place them with a reasonable competitive balance in mind for the four regions.
As the selection committee goes through the steps, geography plays a crucial role in where teams end up in the bracket if they are selected. The committee looks to place teams near their matchups in the first round. And unlike the men’s tournament, the top 16 seeds host the first- and second-round matches, which means either their home arena or a nearby venue.
Legette-Jack suggests her Orange squad could have been placed elsewhere, but they made the familiar trip to Storrs, Connecticut to face this NCAA Tournament favorite and the result was not what they had hoped.
Felisha Legette-Jack of the Syracuse Orange reacts as the UConn Huskies’ lead grows during the third quarter in a second round matchup of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament held at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on March 23, 2026 in Storrs, Connecticut. (Sean Elliot/NCAA Photos)
Azzi Fudd, playing in her final home game, matched her career high with 34 points, making eight three-pointers in the win that sent the Huskies to the Sweet 16 for the 32nd straight time.
The Huskies will face the UNC Tar Heels in the Sweet 16, marking only the second time they have met in the history of this tournament.
The regional finals for this year’s women’s tournament will be held at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas and the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, California.
