Stepping up in the name of Phelia – Orange women earn first program win against Stanford

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Leading scorer Laila Phelia was out this game due to an injury sustained in the overtime thriller vs California. Coach Jack says she wanted to be out there as much as anybody.

Fellow captain Dominque Darius picked up where she left off in Thursday’s win against Cal after hitting a game-winning 3-pointer. She says she knew she had to step up today playing her first game without her backcourt partner.

“We got your back,” Darius said to Phelia. “We all can step up and help each other out and fulfill what needs to be done when a teammate’s down.”

Darius delivered, scoring her career-high 26 points to lead Syracuse to a 69-58 win over Stanford. She admittedly said her game-winning 3-pointer against Cal was bigger than just that game.

“I think it was like a breakthrough for me,” Darius said.

Darius had three consecutive low-scoring games before her 19-point performance on Thursday.

“It’s not anybody else’s fault maybe that I was questioning myself,” Darius said. “I got in the gym, talked to my teammates, coaches about what I was going through and then I was able to pick it up and show up for them.”

Journey Thompson who earned the Bank of America Hard Hat of the Game, did all the little things to keep Syracuse ahead of Stanford team for majority of the game.

“I think I’ve always been someone who’s kind of willing to do whatever I have to do to make the team succeed,” Thompson said. “Having that support from both the coaches and my teammates makes it 10 times more fun to do.”

Jack had a message for the community about its lack of support for women’s sports.

“I’ve been all over this community. I’m from here, born here. I say this is my city… our city,” Jack said. “I’ve done my job and now it’s up to them to decide if they want to enjoy a women’s basketball game because we’re gonna play no matter what.”