Dyaisha Fair reaches milestone, helps seal Syracuse women’s win over Boston College

Syracuse Womens Basetball vs. Pittsburgh Panthers at the JMA Wireless Dome

Syracuse Orange guard Dyaisha Fair, shown in a game earlier this season, surpassed the 2,500-point mark for her career during Sunday's game against Boston College. Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com Scott Schild | sschild@syracuse.com

For much of the season, the Syracuse women’s basketball team’s play in the fourth quarter ― and whether SU wins or loses ― has been decided by Dyaisha Fair’s play.

Against Virginia on Jan. 26, Fair outscored the entire Cavalier squad with 17 points in the final period to turn a close game into a runaway win. But against Virginia Tech on Thursday, she scored just three points in the fourth quarter as the Hokies turned a contested affair into a double-digit victory.

On Sunday afternoon against Boston College, Fair scored 13 points in the fourth quarter to stave off an Eagle comeback and lead Syracuse to a 79-72 win.

And on top of all that, she scored her 2,500th point, only the second active women’s player in the NCAA to hit that milestone.

With the victory, Syracuse completed a season sweep of the Eagles ― the Orange won 83-73 on Jan. 12 ― and moved to 6-7 in the ACC with three consecutive games against ranked opponents coming up.

“All the teams in this conference are going to keep giving you their best effort,” Syracuse coach Felisha Legette-Jack said. “They’ve got good players, but we’ve got Dyaisha.”

Syracuse jumped out to an early 11-2 lead, but the Eagles scored 13 unanswered points to pull ahead. From then on, though, it was all Syracuse.

The Orange took a 15-point lead into the half, and maintained an advantage of about 10 points throughout the majority of the game. When Fair hit a pair of free throws to stretch the lead to 11 with 1:05 left, it appeared the game was over, but freshman Eagle point guard Taina Mair scored eight points in the final minute to bring BC back to within five. Boston College would not get closer, though, and Fair hit a layup with under a second left to seal the deal.

Until the final quarter, Fair mostly struggled from the field and was held to 11 points. With an array of deep bombs, flashy layups and free throws, though, the senior guard finished with 24.

Since Fair started her freshman year at Buffalo in 2019, no one in the country has scored more points than her. She’s averaged at least 20 points per game each year of her career, including 23.4 last year, which put her at 4th in the NCAA. In her first year at Syracuse, she’s averaging 20.0 points per game despite the move from the MAC to the ACC.

“I don’t want to say it doesn’t mean anything, but I think it’s impressive for me sitting at 5-foot-5,” Fair said of the milestone.

Fair also dished out seven assists on Sunday, including three that led to Syracuse 3-pointers from Georgia Woolley and Alaina Rice in the first quarter. In her second year playing with Fair, Woolley praised her ability to make her teammates better.

“She draws so much attention and gets in the lane and then I’m just ready when she kicks it out,” Woolley said. “It just makes it easier having her there. It makes my shots way more open”

While Fair was cold in the first half, Woolley led the Syracuse offense with 18 points, and was 8-of-8 from the free-throw line, to lead all scorers heading into the break.

Legette-Jack partially attributed Fair’s success in the fourth quarter to Rice and Woolley taking the pressure off her in the first three quarters.

“She’s always been a fourth quarter person at our previous school,” Legette-Jack said. “You got a fresh Dyaisha in the fourth quarter? It’s go time.”

Fair is the only player on the SU roster that Legette-Jack has coached for four years.

“I’m just smart enough to get out of the way,” Legette-Jack said. “I hope that we can keep her one more year.”

Notes: The Orange play next at home on Thursday versus No. 11 North Carolina. ... Syracuse was without Teisha Hyman for a second consecutive game as she recovers from a lower leg injury suffered against Louisville. On Wednesday, Felisha Legette-Jack said she’d be coming back, but didn’t offer an exact timeframe. With Hyman out, Fair and Rice each played the full 40 minutes while Kennedi Perkins featured for the fourth straight game. ... Dariauna Lewis posted 15 points and 9 rebounds, ending a four-game streak where no Syracuse forward scored in double figures.

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