# 2020–21 Syracuse Orange women's basketball team

The 2020–21 Syracuse Orange women's basketball team represented Syracuse University during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Orange were led by fifteenth year head coach Quentin Hillsman. The Orange were eighth year members of the Atlantic Coast Conference and played their home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York.
The Orange finished the season 15–9 and 9–7 in ACC play to finish in a tie for fourth place. As the fifth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated to Boston College in the Second Round and Florida State in the Quarterfinals before losing to Louisville in the Semifinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament where they were the eight seed in the Riverwalk Regional. In the tournament they defeated nine seed South Dakota State in the First Round before losing to one seed UConn to end their season.

## Previous season

For the 2019–20 season, the Orange finished 16–15 overall record and a 9–9 in record ACC play securing an eighth-place finish. As the eighth seed in the ACC tournament, they defeated Virginia in the Second Round before losing to Louisville in Quarterfinals. The NCAA tournament and WNIT were cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

## Off-season
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Year | Hometown | Reason for Departure |
| Elemy Colomé | 0 | G | 5'8" | Graduate Student | Lawrence, MA | Graduated |
| Whisper Fisher | 2 | F | 6'2" | Graduate Student | Owings Mills, MD | Graduated |
| Alisha Lewis | 10 | G | 5'7" | Freshman | Wallingford, PA | Transferred to UCF |
| Gabrielle Cooper | 11 | G | 5'10" | Senior | Lansing, IL | Graduated |
| Brooke Alexander | 12 | G | 6'0" | Graduate Student | Frisco, TX | Graduated |

### Recruiting Class

Source:
College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight |
| Kamilla Cardoso C | Montes Claros, Brazil | Hamilton Heights Christian Academy | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Priscilla Williams G | Branson, MO | Branson | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 98 ||||||
| Faith Blackstone G | Harrisburg, PA | Hillside | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 94 ||||||
| Maud Huijbens F | Hilversum, Netherlands | Hilversum | 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Khamya McNeal G | Milwaukee, WI | Rufus King | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Laura Salmeron PG | Spain | N/A | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 90 ||||||
| Kiara Fisher PG | Elmira, NY | Elmira | 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) | N/A |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: ||||||

## Schedule

Source:
| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 29, 2020* 2:00 p.m. | No. 23 | Stony Brook | W 50–39 | 1–0 | Island Federal Credit Union Arena (0) Stony Brook, NY |
| December 2, 2020* 6:00 p.m. | No. 22 | Lincoln | W 90–39 | 2–0 | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| December 6, 2020* 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 22 | Penn State | W 82–72 | 3–0 | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| December 10, 2020 8:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 20 | at Miami (FL) | W 69–58 | 4–0 (1–0) | Watsco Center (0) Coral Gables, FL |
| December 17, 2020 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 18 | at North Carolina | L 68–92 | 4–1 (1–1) | Carmichael Arena (0) Chapel Hill, NC |
| December 20, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCN | No. 18 | at Boston College | W 83–70 | 5–1 (2–1) | Conte Forum (0) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| December 28, 2020* 7:00 p.m., ACCNN | No. 22 | Morgan State | Canceled | Canceled | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| December 31, 2020 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 22 | North Carolina | Postponed | Postponed | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| January 7, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 24 | Virginia | Postponed | Postponed | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| January 10, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 24 | Notre Dame | Postponed | Postponed | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| January 14, 2021 2:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 24 | at Georgia Tech | Postponed | Postponed | McCamish Pavilion Atlanta, GA |
| January 17, 2021 Noon, RSN | No. 24 | Miami (FL) | W 99–64 | 6–1 (3–1) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| January 19, 2021 Noon, ACCN | No. 23 | North Carolina | W 88–76 | 7–1 (4–1) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| January 21, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | No. 23 | at Duke | Canceled | Canceled | Cameron Indoor Stadium Durham, NC |
| January 21, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | No. 23 | at No. 1 Louisville | L 54–67 | 7–2 (4–2) | KFC Yum! Center (2,643) Louisville, KY |
| January 24, 2021 Noon, ACCN | No. 23 | at Clemson | L 77–86 $^{OT}$ | 7–3 (4–3) | Littlejohn Coliseum (421) Clemson, SC |
| January 28, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCNX | | Pittsburgh | W 80–57 | 8–3 (5–3) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| January 31, 2021 11:00 a.m., ACCN | | Notre Dame | W 81–69 | 9–3 (6–3) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| February 2, 2021 7:00 p.m., ACCNX | | at Georgia Tech | L 63–76 | 9–4 (6–4) | McCamish Pavilion (1,200) Atlanta, GA |
| February 4, 2021 6:00 p.m., ACCN | | Wake Forest | W 85–78 | 10–4 (7–4) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| February 7, 2021 2:00 p.m., RSN | | at Pittsburgh | W 71–67 | 11–4 (8–4) | Petersen Events Center (500) Pittsburgh, PA |
| February 11, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Florida State | L 52–67 | 11–5 (8–5) | Donald L. Tucker Center (1,156) Tallahassee, FL |
| February 14, 2021 1:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | No. 3 Louisville | Postponed | Postponed | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| February 18, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | at Notre Dame | Postponed | Postponed | Purcell Pavilion Notre Dame, IN |
| February 21, 2021 Noon, RSN | | at Virginia Tech | L 68–76 | 11–6 (8–6) | Cassell Coliseum (250) Blacksburg, VA |
| February 25, 2021 8:00 p.m., ACCN | | Boston College | W 92–75 | 12–6 (9–6) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| February 28, 2021 Noon, ACCN | | No. 2 NC State | L 61–68 | 12–7 (9–7) | Carrier Dome (0) Syracuse, NY |
| ACC Women's Tournament ||||||
| March 4, 2021 2:30 p.m., RSN | (5) | vs. (13) Boston College Second Round | W 67–61 | 13–7 | Greensboro Coliseum (609) Greensboro, NC |
| March 5, 2021 2:30 p.m., RSN | (5) | vs. (4) Florida State Quarterfinals | W 68–67 | 14–7 | Greensboro Coliseum (592) Greensboro, NC |
| March 6, 2021 Noon, ACCN | (5) | vs. (1) No. 5 Louisville Semifinals | L 59–72 | 14–8 | Greensboro Coliseum (1,122) Greensboro, NC |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| March 21, 2021 5:30 p.m., ESPN2 | (8 R) | vs. (9 R) South Dakota State First Round | W 72–55 | 15–8 | Frank Erwin Center Austin, TX |
| March 23, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPN2 | (8 R) | vs. (1 R) No. 1 UConn First Round | L 47–83 | 15–9 | Alamodome San Antonio, TX |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. R=Riverwalk. All times are in Eastern. ||||||

## Rankings

Legend :
| | Increase in ranking |
| | Decrease in ranking |
| | Not ranked previous week |
| (RV) | Received Votes |
The Coaches Poll releases a final poll after the NCAA tournament, but the AP Poll does not release a poll at this time.