Women's Basketball

After near-upset of No. 5 Notre Dame, Syracuse moves up to No. 20 in Top 25

Jeff Anderson | Staff Photographer

More than 11,000 fans filled the Dome Sunday in Syracuse's near-upset of Notre Dame.

Less than 24 hours after nearly upsetting then-No. 7 Notre Dame, Syracuse moved up one spot to No. 20 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll.

The Week 16 list released Monday afternoon comes after a week during which SU (18-9, 9-5 Atlantic Coast) played only one game. The Orange shot out to an 11-2 lead in the game’s first few minutes and held an eight-point halftime lead. But Syracuse, in front of a record-breaking crowd of more than 11,000, could not hold on to beat the No. 5 Fighting Irish in the 85-80 loss. SU has not beaten UND since the 2002 Big East Tournament and has now lost two of its last three games.

Guards Alexis Peterson and Brittney Sykes each scored 19 points in a game SU got smothered on the boards, 44-20. Gabby Cooper added 18 points, one shy of her career high. Notre Dame All-American Brianna Turner scored a game-high 31 points.

Seven ACC teams placed in this week’s Top 25 poll: No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 8 Florida State, No. 13 Duke, No. 14 Louisville, No. 17 Miami, No. 18 North Carolina State and No. 20 Syracuse. Connecticut (26-0) remains No. 1.

This is the final week of the regular season. SU hosts unranked Wake Forest on Thursday night and hits the road Sunday afternoon to play unranked Pittsburgh, a team SU routed last month.



The ACC tournament begins March 1 in South Carolina.





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