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Dyaisha Fair’s 3-pointer to give Syracuse a 30-29 lead would only last for just one minute and 16 seconds. Wake had drained a 3 on the other end to give itself the halftime 32-30 lead.

Syracuse had trailed for the entire until that point and would continue to trail. But once Asia Strong scored a midrange jumper to give SU a 45-44 fourth-quarter lead, it started a final period where the Orange just outlasted the Demon Deacons.

SU’s (9-2, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) fourth-quarter performance outweighed the difficulty of getting something going against Wake Forest (8-4, 0-2 ACC) in the first two-and-a-half quarters. Behind a fourth quarter where the Orange outscored the Demon Deacons 24-14, Syracuse secured its fourth-straight win in its first conference game of the season.

“Once we started changing the pace of the game…the possessions were coming faster,” head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “I think once we realize that we got to play our game, it changes the way (the Demon Deacons) were playing.”

Both teams had traded baskets and short runs to get back the lead — there were nine lead changes over the course of the game. And once Fair scored a layup with an assist from Cheyenne McEvans, Wake Forest called a timeout to regroup, trailing 49-46.

As the Demon Deacons went 5-of-20 from beyond the arc, they went back to where they were comfortable — scoring down low and inside. WFU registered 38 points in the paint on Sunday and it somewhat mimicked the success Purdue had against the Orange. In that game, Purdue notched 54 points inside to provide enough of a cushion to fend off Syracuse’s comeback.

Olivia Summiel found an opening on the right side, turning and scoring the layup. On the next possession, Kai a Harrison drove down the right side of the lane, drawing the foul and securing the and-one off a reverse layup. Wake Forest retook the lead, grabbing a 51-49 advantage.

Harrison and Summiel were part of a 10-3 third-quarter run that helped the Demon Deacons develop a nine-point lead, but Syracuse managed to get right back in the game, trailing just 44-43 to start fourth quarter.

“They really realized they needed to change,” Legette-Jack said of her team’s defensive performance in the opening three quarters. “They did change and became better.”

Harrison received the ball down low, but as multiple Syracuse defenders closed in on her, she dished the ball back to an open Summiel for a bucket. On another play during the run, Summiel pump-faked, causing Teisha Hyman to bite. This opened up Elise Williams for an easy bucket in the paint.

The turning point in the period came from Fair, Syracuse’s most productive offensive player. She scored 11 of her 25 points in the final period alone, providing the necessary spark for SU to pull away with the win. Fair has scored in double-digits every game this season and recorded her 70th 20-point performance of her career.

Fair said that her aggression in the fourth quarter was a mix of what she saw defensively and the fact that some of her shots weren’t falling. Fair finished 7-of-19 from the floor.

“We knew that their guards were in foul trouble,” Fair said. “So that the more we attacked, we knew that there was a high chance that they’ll foul.”

Matching up one-on-one with Harrison at the top of the key, Fair drove down the left side of the lane, electing to go inside since the team’s perimeter shooting wasn’t there — SU finished 3-of-20 from deep. On the drive, she scored the layup and drew the foul, too, pushing Syracuse ahead to a 55-53 lead. Then, she added four free throws to counter one of the few WFU makes from 3.

Then, Strong came up with a momentum-shifting basket as Alaina Rice took an ill-advised 3, but Strong corralled the rebound and scored the putback, forcingWFU head coach Megan Gebbia to call a timeout. Wake would only add two more points by the game’s end as the Orange closed out the game on a 8-2 run, behind some strong defensive plays.

“We started talking more,” McEvans said. “Defense led to offense. And it just brought the whole synergy with the whole team. We stayed just locked in on defense.”

Wake Forest turned the ballover, which allowed Fair to score a fast-break layup. And on another play, Fair stole the ball from Jewel Spear, eventually being fouled. Both teams coughed the ball up on Sunday, combining for 33 turnovers.

The Demon Deacons could only heave shots and hope for the best, and when it missed they fouled, consistently sending Syracuse to the free-throw line, where SU was 20-of-24 on the night. The final six points for SU came from the charity stripe as Strong had four and Fair scored the final two.

Published on December 18, 2022 at 4:21 pm

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