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A few games removed from its most monumental moment to date under head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, Syracuse looked like a team that couldn’t play consistently against even the bottom feeders of the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Boston College embarrassed SU in transition. The Orange lagged behind the play on almost every instance, allowing fast break opportunities for BC. They couldn’t shoot well. Their frontcourt failed to thwart Teya Sidberry. The Eagles had SU playing down to their level.

Though all Syracuse needed to capture victory was Dyaisha Fair — the program’s centerpiece. She was tasked to single-handedly defeat the Eagles. And by the end of the afternoon, Legette-Jack was left asking for Fair’s autograph, mesmerized by the point guard’s best performance in a Syracuse uniform.

Fair’s season-high 38 points carried No. 21 Syracuse (18-4, 8-3 ACC) to a 75-63 victory over Boston College (11-13, 3-8 ACC), which broke a two-game losing skid. It was also Fair’s highest point total since joining the Orange. SU failed to stall BC inside, losing the points in the paint battle 44-14. Syracuse garnered little to no scoring help outside of Fair, as the rest of the roster shot 10-for-31 from the field. But it didn’t matter for Fair, who shot 13-for-25 with five 3-point makes and took over the game late to secure the win.

“Today, Dyaisha had to go for 38 in order for us to have a chance,” Legette-Jack said postgame. “And what did our other players do? They got her the ball, and got the heck out of the way.”

SU entered the fourth tied 49-49 with BC. At that point, Fair had 25 points, more than double her teammates’ combined total. The Eagles focused their defense to stop Fair, doubling her every chance they got and crashing on her when she drove to the rim.

Fair didn’t score any points across the first five minutes of the fourth, but a bucket from Alyssa Latham and four free throws from the freshman and Saniaa Wilson helped give the Orange a 56-54 lead — a perfect cushion for Fair to take advantage of.

From there, Fair’s teammates cleared out to give her space to work on the perimeter. At the 5:47 mark, Fair drilled a 3 over JoJo Lacey on the left wing to give SU a five-point lead. Then, responding to a Sidberry 2, Fair drained a catch-and-shoot 3 off a feed from Sophie Burrows.

Another Fair 3-pointer with 3:40 left gave Syracuse a six-point lead — its largest lead since the first quarter. Boston College had no answer. It was left to heave up desperation 3s to match Fair, and even its buckets inside paled in comparison to Fair’s 3-point barrage.

Fair grew the Orange’s lead big enough to where the Eagles had to foul on each trip down court to force free throws. Fair made four more at the charity stripe late to get SU up double digits and put the finishing touches on her 38-point outing.

“I can’t teach her what she’s done, but I can give her permission to become (great),” Legette-Jack said.

It was a long road for the Orange to reap the benefits of Fair’s heroics. They started with a new-look starting five — their first major lineup change since ACC play began. Instead of their typical power forward in Latham, Legette-Jack opted to start Wilson.

Against Boston College — who entered Sunday with the fifth-most 2-pointers made in the nation but the 21st-worst allowed 2-point shooting rate, per HerHoopStats — SU needed to display a stable paint presence on both ends of the floor.

Wood and Wilson’s presence on the defensive end paid dividends in the first quarter. The two stayed in front of Sidberry near the basket and heavily contested BC’s guards on drives to the rim. The Eagles resorted to taking more 3s than usual, going 0-for-5 from long range in the first quarter.

Boston College went 0-for-8 from the field during the last 3:31 as a result of SU’s then-fortified defense, and Syracuse’s backcourt took advantage. Rice drilled a second-chance jumper after Latham hauled in an offensive board. Then, Fair lost Kaylah Ivey with a hesitation dribble, exploding to the rim for an easy lay-in.

To end the quarter, Rice ripped down a Lacey 3-point miss and drained a runner to beat the buzzer. Rice’s eight first-quarter points led SU as it took an 18-11 advantage into the second.

Yet everything Syracuse did right to open the contest was slowed to a halt. Constant turnovers, fickle defense inside and lagging in transition highlighted a tough second quarter where BC outscored the Orange 20-12.

Syracuse didn’t score in the first 5:06 of the second quarter, a span in which it committed four turnovers, as its lead evaporated into a one-point deficit.

Contrary to the opening period, Boston College got almost all of its second-quarter baskets in the paint, where it outscored SU 22-6 through the first half. While the Orange couldn’t keep up with the Eagles on the fast break, they also allowed Sidberry — who scored 13 points in the first half — to wreak havoc in the half-court offense.

BC’s guards fed Sidberry in the post and just watched as she asserted her dominance over Wood, Wilson and Latham, earning high-percentage looks through her physicality under the basket. The Orange’s frontcourt couldn’t match her production, or come close.

Fair responded, though, as she went on a seven-point scoring run through the tail end of the second quarter, which included a couple of step-back mid-range jumpers and a right-wing 3. The Eagles still limited any shred of momentum for SU to generate in the second, closing the quarter with two more buckets inside by Sidberry and T’yana Todd to take a 31-30 lead into the break.

BC persisted in the second half. It dominated Syracuse inside and ran ragged in transition for easy, uncovered layups. With limited help from secondary scorers, a tired and struggling front court and a lack of bench production, Fair was tasked to keep SU even on the scoreboard.

The point guard dropped 12 points in the third quarter to keep the Orange in lockstep with the Eagles. The offense revolved around her more than it typically does, as SU spaced the floor for Fair to play isolation ball against Lacey and Ivey, among others who tried to step up.

Fair’s first instinct was to drive, and she wound up getting to the line a few times for some easy points. Since she didn’t work off the ball, Fair didn’t have nearly as many 3-point attempts but she cashed in when given the chance. Midway through the third, Ivey sagged off of Fair — likely expecting a drive. Fair set her feet to calmly drain a 3 from the top of the key, which tied the game 44-44.

Fair earned another bucket late in the quarter to tie things up at 49-49 entering the fourth. At that point, she’d done enough for Syracuse’s signature fourth-quarter magic to kick in. SU outscored the Eagles 26-14 in the final 10 minutes, spurred by 13 points from Fair.

Boston College did everything it could to upset the Orange. Yet it lacked a player like Fair to take the contest over in its entirety. Legette-Jack knows how fortunate she is to have that luxury, that unstoppable force to single-handedly win her team games.

“She is one of the most special young ladies that I’ve ever witnessed, let alone coached,” Legette-Jack said of Fair. “She’s 5-foot-4, and she’s the biggest kid on the court.”

Published on February 4, 2024 at 2:21 pm

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews