Syracuse, N.Y. — Dominique Darius stepped back, pulled the nylons from behind the arc and headed to the sideline, where head coach Felisha Legette-Jack greeted her with a big hug.
Finally.
Despite blowing a 20-point lead and needing three overtimes, Syracuse held on to beat California 90-87 behind Darius’ game-winning 3-pointer with 3 seconds left in the third overtime.
The Orange never trailed in regulation and led 53-33 with 1:25 left in the third quarter. However, SU collapsed in the fourth quarter, getting outscored 25-9 to send the game into overtime.
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Syracuse Women’s Basketball 2025-26: Syracuse vs. California
SU (15-3, 5-2 ACC) looked to win in the first overtime, but Cal’s Lulu Twidale miraculously drained two 3-pointers in the final 14 seconds to force double overtime. After Darius tied the score at 83-83 with 27 seconds left in double overtime, Cal couldn’t make a shot while holding the ball, sending the game into the third OT.
And while it looked like there might be a fourth overtime, Darius made sure it didn’t happen after drilling a three. She finished with 19 points while Uche Izoje added 22, Sophie Burrows 21 and Laila Phelia 18 for the Orange.
Even with a 20-point lead long gone by the fourth quarter, SU had a chance to close out the game in regulation.
After Cal’s Naya Ojukwu hit a second-chance mid-range jumper to tie the score at 62-62 with 26.4 seconds left, SU put the ball in Phelia’s hands. As the clock ticked down, Phelia drove in but missed the float. With one second left, Burrows grabbed an offensive rebound but was unable to capitalize on a second chance layup.
Cal (10-9, 1-5 ACC) took its first lead of the game early in the next five minutes after Ojukwu made two free throws. Another two-pointer by Ojukwu, sandwiched between Darius’ free throws, gave the Golden Bears a 66-63 lead less than a minute into overtime.
But the Orange didn’t let the deficit spiral. Izoje scored four straight points to give SU back the lead with 3:22 remaining. Another layup by Izoja, a freshman, put SU ahead 69-66 with 45 seconds left.
With one more stop, the Orange could have secured the win. But it couldn’t be that simple in a game like this.
Cal’s Mjracle Sheppard responded with two points of her own with 35 seconds left. Cal then intentionally fouled Izoje, who missed two free throws, but an offensive rebound led to Darius redeeming his teammate with two free throws.
Defensively, despite getting an open look at the rim, the Orange got the stop they desperately needed to keep the lead at three. After Izoje split a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left, Twidale drilled a 3-pointer to cut the Golden Bears’ deficit to 72-71 with 14 seconds remaining.
That forced Cal to foul Darius, who made two more key free throws. Twidale hit another 3-pointer just before the buzzer to force another OT.
Five points from Burrows gave Syracuse an 81-80 lead with 2:33 left in the second overtime, but Taylor Burns converted an Orange turnover to give Cal an 83-81 lead on a-1 with 54 seconds left.
SU missed their next shot but quickly maintained possession after traveling. Darius then tied the game with 27 seconds left on the clock. Cal held the ball as the clock wound down, but couldn’t get a shot off, forcing triple overtime.
Burrows opened the third overtime with a 3-pointer, but it took more than 4 minutes for the Orange to score again when Darius hit one of two free throws to tie the score at 87-87 with 41 seconds remaining.
After the stop, SU had the ball with a chance to win. Darius made it a reality.
After the final horn blew following Cal’s foul, Legette-Jack addressed the crowd.
“All we do is win,” she said.
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