Syracuse women’s basketball: Dyaisha Fair sparks late-game comeback as #17 Orange defeat Pittsburgh 63-53

It was a wild way to end “Senior Day.”

At the JMA Wireless Dome for potentially the last time this regular season, the #17 Syracuse Orange women’s basketball team (23-5, 13-4) rallied from an 11-point deficit late in the third quarter to escape with a 63-53 win win over the Pittsburgh Panthers (8-21, 2-14) on Sunday afternoon.

Both Syracuse and Pitt shot below 36% from the field in what evolved into a defensive-minded battle, but the Orange outscored the Panthers 22-4 in the fourth quarter to conclude “Senior Day” with a big-time comeback win.

In what could be her final time playing in the Dome, Dyaisha Fair finished with a team-high 23 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter as she helped to re-ignite the Orange’s offense down the stretch. Fair also finished with 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 4 steals, and moved to fifth all-time on the NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring list (passing Baylor’s Brittney Griner).

Georgia Woolley ended with 14 points on 4/12 shooting and 7 rebounds, while Alyssa latham (9 points and 6 rebounds) and Sophie Burrows (11 points, 4/8 shooting, 3/7 from three) provided a much-needed spark to help guide Syracuse to its 26th consecutive win over the Panthers and lock in the Orange at a 14-2 record at home this season.

Liatu King finished with a game-high 29 points and scored nearly 55% percent of Pittsburgh’s total points. Bella Perkins, who scored 11 points, was the only other player to finish in double-figures for the Panthers.

Syracuse’s offense did come out a bit flat to start of the game. The Orange got an early lead thanks to a mid-range jumper from Woolley, but the team started off 2/8 from the field as Pittsburgh managed to take as much as an eight-point lead (12-4). Ayodele and King combined had 10 of Pitt’s first 12 points, getting most of their looks at the free throw line or around the basket.

But the Orange quickly responded by the first media timeout. Rice knocked down two free throws which sparked an 11-2 scoring run to end the first quarter. Sophie Burrows knocked down a corner three on her first play of the bench, while Fair knocked down a free throw to give Syracuse a 15-14 lead entering the second quarter.

Offense proved to be difficult to find for both teams, but Syracuse faced another second quarter where it was tough to score across the board. The Orange started the quarter off 0/7 from the field and went without a point through four and a half minutes. Pitt was shooting less than 32% at this point, but the scoreless stretch saw Syracuse fall behind 19-15 with halftime approaching.

Shortly after, Woolley proceeded to go on a personal 8-0 run. She nailed a three-pointer at the 3:54 marker to give Syracuse its first basket of the entire quarter, then followed that up with multiple scores to put the Orange back up 23-22. Pitt responded with a late-quarter run of its own to go up 30-25 at halftime.

A three from Burrows and a floater from Latham cut the Orange’s deficit down to 32-30, but the Panthers again held their ground and make five straight shots to push their lead to 11 points with under a minute to go in the third quarter.

That’s when the Orange found their groove and began to steal back momentum. Burrows hit her third three of the afternoon to bring it back to within eight points. A pair of free throws and two made baskets from Fair put Syracuse just one basket away, and after Pitt went up 53-52, Fair launched a three at the top of the key to put the Orange ahead.

From there, Syracuse outscored Pittsburgh 8-0 down and held the Panthers scoreless for the final two and a half minutes of the game. The Orange forced Pitt to shoot just 2/15 in the fourth quarter, and the defensive energy coupled with some last-second heroics eventually resulted in a win by the final buzzer.

Up next for the Orange is their 2023-2024 regular season finale, which will be versus #6 NC State on Thursday evening. Tip-off is at 7 p.m. EST in Raleigh.