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Just over two minutes into the fourth quarter, Dyaisha Fair sized up Yonta Vaughn. The shot clock was winding down and the Orange had gone on a run to get the game to double digits. Fair dribbled into the right side key, stepped back and scored a 17-footer over Vaughn, giving SU a 12-point lead and forcing UVA to call a timeout.

Syracuse (14-7, 5-5 Atlantic Coast) held the double-digit lead for the bulk of the fourth quarter, picking up its fifth conference win after losing its last three. It defeated Virginia (14-7, 4-7 ACC) 90-72 behind Dyaisha Fair’s season-high 36 points and Alaina Rice added 18, her season-high. Fair tied a program record eight 3’s. Fair had 17 in the fourth-quarter alone.

“We just had to figure out how to bounce back and come together collectively,” Fair said about the win after the three-game skid. “We just had to bounce back together.”

Both teams have a few turnovers in the first five minutes, though cleaning it up later in the half. Taylor Valladay tried to pass the ball to a teammate cutting into the paint, but Wood deflected it. On the other end, Syracuse had two passes intended for Dyaisha Fair go out of bounds — one at half court and the other on the baseline.

Rice kicked off the scoring with a 3 from the right wing after she missed her first one from the same spot. She added a layup in transition off a UVA turnover, driving down the right side of the lane. On another play, Rice went coast-to-coast, this time going down the left side to give Syracuse a 19-14 lead with a couple minutes left in the first quarter and forcing the Cavaliers to call a timeout. Out of the timeout, Rice also hit another three from that right wing, finishing with 10 first-quarter points as the Orange led 22-17 after one period.

In the first quarter, Rice did the bulk of the scoring, but great ball movement led to open shots. Fair had a no-look pass from the left wing to Georgia Woolley at the free-throw line for an easy bucket. Asia Strong also scored a midrange bucket after a string of passes between her, Rice and Woolley.

Syracuse’s lead reached as much as eight in the second quarter after Fair swished a 3 and Saniaa Wilson worked in the paint to score a bucket. Fair hit another 3 from that same spot, too, later in the period. Wilson earned first start in a Syracuse uniform and had four points and six rebounds in the first half. Half of those rebounds were offensive. Multiple times, she boxed out her defender, getting enough separation for putback layups. She only played seven first half minutes as Dariauna Lewis quickly entered the game after a couple minutes in the first quarter to begin a rotation of bigs with Kyra Wood and Asia Strong.
“I’m really proud of her today,” head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “She’s had a couple injuries that really held her back.

Legette-Jack added that she was planning to start Wilson against NC State on New Year’s Day, but the injuries prohibited that.

UVA quickly came back, getting three layups, two of which came from Camryn Taylor. London Thompson also added 10 first-half points, including a hard-fought bucket down low as multiple Syracuse players caved in on her. Thompson shot 71% from the floor in the first half.

Both teams were tied at 36 before Syracuse went on a quick 5-0 run with all points scored by Woolley. Woolley hit a midrange jumper and on the next possession, was going to cut toward the basket. But Fair passed to her in the corner and Woolley was wide open, hitting a corner 3. UVA’s McKenna Dale responded with a 3 from the top of the key as the Orange led 41-39 at the end of the first half.

In the first frame, Syracuse shot 7-of-16 from deep, shooting just under 50% of its field goals from beyond the arc. Fair had four, Rice had two and Woolley added the one in the corner. Fair led all scorers at the end of the first half with 12 points.

“I think we always know it’s always going to be a physical game,” Woolley said. “We were obviously prepared for that.”

Out of the halftime break, Wilson remained in the lineup, continuing to grab offensive boards. Woolley had missed a corner 3, but Wilson extended the possession with a rebound and it culminated in a bucket by Kyra Wood, who posted it up, spun and scored. Then, off another Woolley missed 3 as the shot clock expired, Wilson deflected the ball and got the Orange to ball back. Fair capitalized on that second-chance opportunity with another 3.

Defensively, Wood stuffed Brunelle down low and Rice intercepted a Clarkson pass that was intended for the top of the key. Rice scored the easy fast-break layup, causing the Cavaliers to call another timeout with SU up 49-42 just a couple minutes into the third quarter. Fair added another fast break layup to give Syracuse a nine-point lead, its biggest at that point of the game.

“Honestly, I think it was my confidence and my teammates gave me confidence,” Rice said of her performance.

Once again, the Cavaliers crawled back as Taylor hit another bucket while Yonta Vaughn drained a 3-pointer. But Syracuse matched UVA at the end of the third quarter. Rice converted on the three-point play, securing her second-straight 15-plus-point game. Fair found Strong for a layup on the 3-on-1 fast break, giving the Orange a seven-point advantage entering the final period.

In the fourth, Syracuse started on a 8-3 run, culminating in the Fair jumper that gave it a 73-61 lead with seven and a half minutes left as UVA called a timeout. Fair drained another top of the key 3 out of the break and Strong nailed the midrange jumper. And of course, she had to have another 3 — and another — in her 10th game with at least 20 points and passing her previous season-high easily.

“Just keep shooting,” Fair said she told herself.

Published on January 26, 2023 at 9:01 pm

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