Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

A player like Dyaisha Fair can, at times, cancel out any exterior factors. Defenses know they can’t stop her, so they focus on matching her offense while shutting down her supporting cast. Yet even when opponents execute and hold a comfortable fourth-quarter lead, a palpable feeling lingers that Fair will right every wrong and win the game by herself.

And for the fourth time in 2023-24, the sentiment proved true on an afternoon where SU needed it the most.

Fair’s 10 crucial fourth-quarter points propelled No. 23 Syracuse (20-4, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a comeback 73-72 victory over No. 15 Louisville (20-5, 9-3 ACC). A deficit that ballooned up to nine was quickly torn down by Fair, who dropped eight points during the middle-portion of the fourth to give SU its first lead of the game. Then, down by one with 2.3 seconds left, Fair earned an intentional foul call on U-of-L’s Olivia Cochran to give her a chance to end it at the charity stripe. She drained both free throws and only had to dribble the clock out afterward, sealing Syracuse’s fourth double-digit comeback win of the season.

Her performance effectively made SU’s prior struggles moot by the final buzzer as the Orange delivered their fourth ranked win of the year and moved to second place in the ACC.

“We want to embrace every second we have with Dyaisha Fair,” said Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack postgame. “And so in order to do that, we can’t look ahead. So we’re staying locked on now. I just think that we got so much more to do.”

It was hard for Legette-Jack to not bask in the glory of her first-career win over Louisville as SU’s head coach, saying she wouldn’t “be able to calm down” before the kickoff of Super Bowl LVIII a few hours later. From shooting 36.4% through the first 30 minutes to outscoring the Cardinals by 10 over the last 5:56, Legette-Jack’s squad went through a rough patch before Fair pulled them out.

Fair’s production in the final quarter — part of a game-high 29 points — continued a damning trend. This season, Fair has scored 10 or more points in all of SU’s double-digit comeback wins. Her clutch gene has been the deciding factor for many of the program’s best victories in the Legette-Jack era.

“My team’s counting on me, I’m counting on me and it was time to go do it,” Fair said of the latest come-from-behind win.

Syracuse had to rely on Fair all game. Occasionally, though, the Orange have suffered defeats due to a lack of outside production to complement their star. That continued Sunday as well — SU had just one other double-digit scorer and only added one more 3 to pair with Fair’s five — yet Fair did enough to set up another stellar fourth quarter.

A buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Fair cut Syracuse’s first-half deficit to three. Then, to end the third, a quarter where SU fell behind by as much as 10, Fair ignited for all of the Orange’s last six points.

While down, a comeback was still feasible entering the fourth. But an Alaina Rice up-and-under attempt that hit the side of the backboard, and got picked up by Kiki Jefferson for a coast-to-coast finish to make it 63-54 Louisville, seemed to spell doom for the Orange.

Legette-Jack called a timeout and subbed Kennedi Perkins into the game. Perkins became the traditional point guard while Fair moved off-ball as more of a shooting guard. Then, Fair carried until the very end.

The two instantly connected at the 5:26 mark, with Fair moving from the left corner to the wing, receiving a feed from Perkins and draining a 3-pointer over Jayda Curry. Louisville’s lead was cut to 65-59.

A few possessions later, coming off a missed 3 from Jefferson, Georgia Woolley ran the floor on the fast break and hit Fair beyond the left-wing arc. With an outstretched hand from Sydney Taylor in her face, Fair canned the 3 and cut the deficit to 65-64.

As a dangerous threat from 3, Louisville couldn’t adjust to Fair when she took it to the rim. Down 68-67 with nearly two and a half minutes remaining, Fair whittled through the Cardinals’ defense in transition and finished a double-clutch layup to give the Orange their first advantage of the game.

But Cochran responded quickly. She knocked down two free throws and then converted a lay-in working on Alyssa Latham, allowing Louisville to take a 72-69 lead. Fair answered with an unselfish move, dishing from the top of the key to Perkins on the left wing, where she made a wide-open mid-range jumper to bring SU back within one.

A Latham block on the other end set Syracuse up for a potential go-ahead possession with 33.1 seconds left. Woolley wound up taking a shot which missed, though Perkins hauled in the board and kicked it out to Fair on the right wing to reset the offense.

Fair meandered around the perimeter for a bit, waiting for the right moment to strike. As time ticked down, she drove inside and collided with Cochran. The contact was deemed an intentional foul on Louisville’s big. Fair went to the free throw line with 2.3 seconds left. She went 2-for-2, giving SU the lead and the ball back to dribble out the clock.

For Legette-Jack, Fair’s latest example of fourth-quarter dominance to steal another win away from an ACC opponent proved it’s not a skill the point guard has had to harness. To Fair, it’s always been natural.

“This young lady right here, she’s different,” Legette-Jack said of Fair. “This game here I think put the world on notice that we’re not going to try and force (Fair) on you. We’re going to continue to show you who she is and we’ll keep our heads down.”

Published on February 11, 2024 at 5:49 pm

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