Syracuse women’s basketball kicks-off WNIT run with home game versus Kent State

The Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team (18-12, 9-9) will return to the JMA Wireless Dome for postseason play Wednesday night and host the Kent State Golden Flashes (21-10, 12-6) in the first round of the 2023 Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

The Orange are hosting a postseason game for the first time since the 2018-2019 season, with this year marking the fifth time Syracuse will compete in the WNIT in the program’s history. This also marks the first time in Syracuse women’s basketball history that a first-year head coach clinched a postseason spot in either the NCAA Tournament or the WNIT.

Syracuse missed out on the 2023 NCAAW Tournament, but accepted the ACC’s automatic bid for the WNIT Sunday night. The Orange finished this season with a seven-game improvement compared to the 2021-2022 season, and are 5-5 in their last 10 games with wins over NCAA Tournament teams North Carolina and Miami.

This marks the first time the Orange will compete in the WNIT since the 2011-2012 season, where Syracuse advanced all the way to the WNIT semifinals. In its last four WNIT appearances, the Orange have won at least one game and currently sit with an 11-4 record all-time in the tournament. Syracuse is 14-3 at home this season, its most wins at home since the Orange went 17-2 at the Dome in the 2010-2011 season.

Kent State finished with the fourth-best record in the Mid-Atlantic Conference, beating Northern Illinois in the 2023 MAC Tournament before falling 68-58 to the top-seed Toledo.

Tip-off between Syracuse and Kent State is at 7 p.m. EST, and whichever team advances to the second round will compete against the winner of Seton Hall and Saint Joseph’s.

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Women’s basketball is not done yet. What are your thoughts on the current bracket, and can the Orange make a deep WNIT run in coach Felisha Legette-Jack’s first season?