Syracuse, N.Y. — When Laila Phelia entered the transfer portal, Felisha Legette-Jack wanted to get in touch with her. So she contacted Johntay Cook II, who played football for Texas before transferring to Syracuse in May.
After contacting Cook, Legette-Jack said he responded that he knew Phelia, who was on the Longhorns’ women’s basketball team last year. She added that the wide receiver “absolutely” played a role in helping the Orange initially contact Phelia.
“When I heard that she was going to be available, we went 100 miles an hour trying to figure out any way that we can get in touch with her,” Legette-Jack said.
Thus far, Syracuse’s pursuit has paid off, as it improved to 3-0 after Phelia scored a game-high 22 points and had a +26 plus/minus rating in SU’s 96-72 win over Canisius on Tuesday night. After averaging 6.1 points per game in her lone year with Texas, which was cut short due to a detached retina in her left eye, this was Phelia’s first time scoring over 20 points since her junior year at Michigan.
“It definitely feels pretty good,” Phelia said postgame.
Before her stint with the Longhorns, Phelia was a 2023-24 All-Big Ten first-team selection and averaged 14.1 points per game across three seasons with the Wolverines. Entering Tuesday’s matchup versus Canisius, the 6-foot guard averaged 7.5 points across SU’s first two games.
Ahead of tipoff versus the Golden Griffins, Phelia said Syracuse assistant coach Khyreed Carter told her she couldn’t shoot a 3-pointer until making a mid-range shot. Phelia finished the game 8-of-16 from the field, missing her lone 3-point attempt, which came in the fourth quarter.
From the get-go, Phelia established her mid-range jumper. Less than 90 seconds into the game, she drained one from the right elbow, giving the Orange a 4-2 lead that they never surrendered.
A minute later, she drove into the lane before rising up and scoring through contact for an and-1. It was the start of seven consecutive points for Phelia.
She had 11 points in the first quarter, just one shy of her previous full-game high this season.
Though she only tacked on two more points in the second quarter, the Orange commanded a 53-34 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, Phelia got herself back on track by getting to the free-throw line. She drained all six of her attempts from the charity stripe in the game.
Though Syracuse led by as many as 27 points in the second quarter, its lead was trimmed to 13 a minute into the fourth. As Canisius nearly trimmed its deficit to single digits, Phelia helped the Orange start rebuilding their lead back into the 20s.
Following Shariah Gailes’ and-1 that cut the Golden Griffins’ deficit to 13, Phelia attacked the basket, drawing a foul. She canned both of her free throws, which started a 24-13 SU run to close the game.
At the 5:43 mark, she again drew a foul after attacking the paint and shooting an off-balance mid-range jumper, which she banked in off the glass and then made the ensuing free throw to give Syracuse an 83-63 lead.
From the Orange’s first practice, junior Sophie Burrows said she knew Phelia was talented and brought infectious energy. It’s a side of Phelia that was impossible to see last year as her eye injury derailed her season.
Now back to full strength, Phelia showed Tuesday that she can be a transcendent piece as Syracuse chases Legette-Jack’s goal of putting up a championship banner.