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Dyaisha Fair didn’t have many options to pass. Nor did she have time to with the shot clock winding down.

Fair controlled the ball while tightly guarded by Amaya Bonner, who stuck with the Fair the entire possession, closing any tiny openings. Trailing 69-67 with 3:35 remaining, all Fair could do was heave a 30-foot prayer with Bonner right in her face.

Time seemed to stand still as Fair’s jumper went sky-high before catching nothing but net, her eighth 3-pointer of the game. The bucket put Syracuse up one. The next time down the floor, there was no question who the ball was going to. Once again, with the shot clock winding down, Fair stepped back — this time guarded by Sara Bejedi — and garnered the same results.

Fair’s ninth 3 set a program record, breaking her own mark which she set on Jan. 26, 2023, against Virginia as the Orange looked to close things out down the stretch.

Five days ago, Syracuse clawed back from a 19-point second-half deficit to beat Clemson. This time, against a much stronger opponent in No. 15 Florida State, the same issues plagued the Orange. Ill-advised shots, turnovers and letting up easy baskets led to SU falling behind. Still, Syracuse scratched and clawed its way back into the game — as it’s done all season long.

Fair followed up one historic performance with another one. After breaking the 3,000 point mark against Clemson, the fifth-year point guard provided a sequel. Fair exploded for 11 in the fourth quarter, scoring as many points as Florida State (14-5, 4-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Syracuse (15-2, 5-1 ACC) roared back after halftime for the second straight game, winning 79-73. SU dug deep when all hope looked to be lost and won its fourth-straight ACC game for the first time under Legette-Jack.

Kyra Wood said postgame that the Orange aren’t a team that’s going to go down without a fight. Fair said they’re going to battle until the clock hits zero.

“There’s a lot of game left and we were going to fight to the finish whether it goes our way or not,” Fair said about falling behind early. “But we have to feel and know that we left it all out there no matter what the score says at the end of the game. So I think if we just fight until the last horn sounds and see where it gets us.”

Other than Fair, the first half was mostly a struggle for Syracuse. The point guard capped off SU’s rather lackluster 20 minutes with her fifth 3-pointer. But outside of her 17 points, no SU player had more than seven at the half as FSU led 46-36.

Last year’s ACC scoring leader, Ta’Niya Latson, along with Bejedi, who’d been coming off a career-high 31 points against Virginia Tech, controlled the pace for the first half. Latson slashed into the paint constantly, finishing over SU’s bigs like Alyssa Latham and Wood while Bejedi knocked down shots from the perimeter.

It was the same story against Clemson. Syracuse trailed by 10 at the break, before the Tigers lead ballooned to 19. Alaina Rice drained a 3 with 6:47 left which got the Orange in rhythm.

On Thursday, Makayla Timpson converted down low off a pass from Bejedi to put FSU up 18 with 7:58 time left. Then, Fair drained a 3 that seemed to get SU going. As it did against Clemson, Syracuse slowly climbed back into the game.

Legette-Jack said basketball is a game of runs and through the first 22-plus minutes, she knew SU hadn’t made one. She tinkered with the lineup in the second half, playing Fair with mostly bench players (Sophie Burrows, Saniaa Wilson and Kennedi Perkins). Finally, everything seemed to click.

“I want us to feel good about when we hit that match and it struck a fire,” Legette-Jack said. “Whatever time that was and right after that seven, eight-minute mark of the third quarter. I saw that there was a flicker happening in the quarter ended and we knew that we’re going to have a run.”

Florida State grew complacent. It stopped doing the things that had led to the large advantage, and Latson seemed out of rhythm. She had a team-high 22 points with a game-high nine assists. But the Orange forced Latson into a season-high six turnovers. Coming into the game, FSU was one of the best teams at taking care of the ball in the country, averaging just 11.3 turnovers per game — seventh in the country.

Still, Syracuse forced 14 giveaways from the Seminoles, four of which came in the fourth quarter, while the Orange went the final 12:30 without turning it over.

The Orange went on a 17-2 run, holding the Seminoles without a field goal for over five minutes from the end of the third quarter into the fourth. The run was capped off by a Fair 3-pointer from the corner to put Syracuse up 63-62. Florida State answered back with five straight, then back-to-back 3s from Fair put SU up 73-69 with 2:43 remaining.

“Does anything she does surprise me?” Legette-Jack said before cracking a smile. “Absolutely not.”

Timpson answered, cutting the lead to two. Then, Wood pulled in a Perkins miss for her fifth offensive rebound of the game before getting fouled and knocking down the ensuing free throws. Timpson scored on Wood again inside for her 16th point, making it 75-73 with 1:09 remaining.

FSU had a chance to tie the game but Bejedi missed her fifth-straight shot as Burrows secured the board, handing the ball off to Fair who was fouled with 21 seconds left. Burrows then pulled in a missed 3-pointer from Carla Viegas before putting the game on ice with two makes from the charity stripe.

Last season against Florida State, Syracuse trailed by two with 4:28 remaining. But an 11-0 run from the Seminoles helped close out the game. This time, the Orange finished the job.

It wasn’t pretty, though Syracuse once again found a way to win. Whether it’s been Fair’s offense, the bigs crashing the offensive glass or playing lockdown team defense, things have clicked for SU in the final quarter in two straight games. The Orange have outscored their last two opponents 55-29 in the fourth.

“These young ladies believe in themselves and believe in each other, they believe in this coaching staff. They just believe that what we tell them is for the good of the whole, not necessarily the individual,” Legette-Jack said. “When you have belief, you have the world in your hand.”

Published on January 18, 2024 at 9:14 pm

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