Dyaisha Fair leads Syracuse women’s basketball to victory in NCAA Tournament

No. 6 seed Syracuse women’s basketball (24-7, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) had to stage a comeback to beat No. 11 seed Arizona (18-16, 8-10 Pac-12) 74-69 in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament Round. As she’s done many times this season, guard Dyaisha Fair led the way.

Late in the third quarter, Fair was injured on a drive to the hoop. Afterwards, she was helped to the locker room, unable to put pressure on her left leg. The Orange fell behind to start the fourth quarter, trailing by as many as nine points. That’s when Fair made her triumphant return from the locker room and checked back into the game, resulting in lots of cheering from Syracuse fans.

“To hear that, it was warming,” Fair said of the crowd’s reaction. “I think with it being my last few games with this team, it was a warming thing.”

Fair’s return was highlighted by her performance in the last three minutes of the game. The graduate student scored all 13 of SU’s points in that span, helping flip the score from 66-61 in favor of the Wildcats to 74-69 in favor of the Orange.

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Even though it was just one ‘Cuse player carrying the scoring load, Fair’s teammates didn’t feel left out.

“Oh, we love it,” said fellow guard Kennedi Perkins after the game. “We know when she’s cooking, give her the ball.”

Fair finished with 32 points, a program scoring record for NCAA Tournament games. She’s also 12 points away from moving into fourth on the NCAA Division I women’s basketball career scoring list.

With the victory, Syracuse has moved on to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament, which means the Orange are one of the final 32 teams standing.

“I just hope that we can continue to stay as long as we can this season,” said head coach Felisha Legette-Jack, “because I know that they’re ready to go out there and do some fantastic things.”

SU will take on UConn (30-5, 18-0 Big East) on Monday at 6 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies’ home court.