Syracuse climbs to No. 17 in latest AP Poll

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Syracuse women’s basketball has been ranked No. 17 in the latest edition of the AP Women’s College Basketball Top 25 Poll released Monday. The Orange have climbed two spots from their previous No. 19 ranking. For the second week in a row, SU has improved to its highest-ever AP Poll spot in the Felisha Legette-Jack era.

After defeating then-No. 15 Louisville to rise four spots in the national poll, Syracuse won two consecutive road contests to further its standing. First, it bested Miami 71-60 on Feb. 15 in one of SU’s most complete wins of the season. Even though star point guard Dyaisha Fair was held to just 11 points, Georgia Woolley dropped a season-high 24 and the Orange shot nearly 50% from the field to down the Hurricanes.

Four days later in Charlottesville, Syracuse drained a season-best 12 3-pointers en route to an 85-79 victory over Virginia. Fair answered her previous lowly outing with a 33-point explosion. She has finished with at least 30 points or more three times this campaign.

Syracuse (22-4, 12-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) currently sits as a No. 5 seed in ESPN’s Bracketology and would play its first and second round games in Bloomington, Indiana. In the ACC, the Orange are at the No. 2 spot in the conference, just one game behind Virginia Tech for the No. 1 seed — though the Hokies hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over SU.