Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.

Following back-to-back losses for the first time this season against then-No. 19 Virginia Tech and then-No. 16 Louisville, Syracuse responded with four straight wins. The stretch was capped off Thursday, where Syracuse beat the Hurricanes by double digits. With Dyaisha Fair scoring just 11 points, Georgia Woolley turned in a season-best 24 points while Alyssa Latham added 10 points off the bench.

With the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament just over two weeks away, SU entered Sunday’s contest as the No. 2 seed in the conference with an 11-3 record. Looking to enhance their status as a top seed in the ACC and vie for a top-four seed in the NCAA Tournament — all top-four seeds host the Rounds of 64 and 32 — the Orange never trailed versus Virginia.

Here are some observations from No. 19 Syracuse’s (22-4, 12-3 ACC) 85-79 win over Virginia (12-13, 4-10 ACC):

Fair bounces back

After an 11-point performance versus Miami, Syracuse needed Fair needed to bounce back against Virginia. Despite only scoring two points in the first quarter, she recorded two assists. But the second quarter is where she started to fill up the stat sheet.

With two seconds left on the shot clock a minute into the second, Fair dribbled along the baseline before draining a pull-up mid-range shot. Fair missed her next shot, but responded with a deep 3-pointer at the 6:06 mark, giving the Orange a 31-19 lead.

Back-to-back buckets from UVA’s Paris Clark cut SU’s lead to 39-25 two-and-a-half minutes before halftime. But Fair silenced the crowd on the other end, hitting from the midrange again. In the final minute of the half, Fair corralled a defensive rebound before pushing the ball in transition and nailing another mid-range shot that gave SU a 45-28 halftime lead.

Late in the third quarter, after UVA’s Camryn Taylor cut SU’s lead to 57-49, Fair drained a 3-pointer and was fouled. But her biggest highlight of the game came a minute-and-a-half later when she put her defenders on skates before draining a step-back 3 for her 22nd point of the game.

In the fourth quarter, when Syracuse needed her most, Fair stepped up. Her 11 fourth-quarter points contributed to a game-high 33, silencing UVA’s comeback effort.

3-point barrage

Despite winning their last three games, the Orange shot a collective 16-for-56 (28.6%) on 3-pointers. Entering its contest with Virginia, Syracuse had the 125th-best 3-point percentage in Division I (32.2%). But a problem that has plagued SU all season is its inability to hit 3-pointers outside of Fair.

Though after forcing a 3-point miss on the Cavaliers’ first possession of the game, Alaina Rice grabbed the defensive rebound before dishing ahead to Fair. Two Virginia defenders eyed Fair, which left Rice wide open on the right wing. Rice drained it, helping set the tone for a dominant game from behind the arc.

While Woolley’s 24 points against Miami were a season-high, she shot 1-for-6 from 3. But against the Cavaliers, she made four of her six attempts from distance while Izabel Varejão, a 25.0% 3-point shooter, drained SU’s fourth 3 of the first quarter.

Throughout the second quarter, the Orange continued their dominance from 3. Though Fair was just 1-for-3, Woolley and Rice each nailed their lone triples boosting SU to shoot 7-for-12 from 3 at halftime.

Syracuse stayed strong from distance in the second half. The Orange were 6-for-13 from 2 in the third quarter, but going 4-for-5 from 3 helped them maintain a 15-point lead going into the fourth quarter. Syracuse shied away from shooting 3s in the final 10 minutes, though its 12 3-point makes on 20 attempts marked a season-high.

Spreading the love

Throughout the season, Syracuse has been a middle-of-the-pack team distributing the ball. SU’s 13.3 assists per game before facing the Cavaliers ranked 148th in D-I, according to HerHoopStats. But at halftime, the Orange were already in line with their season assist total, notching 13 at the break.

Despite having a potential lane to score her second basket of the game in the first quarter, Fair made an extra pass to Varejão on her 3-point make, one of the Orange’s seven first-quarter assists. Syracuse was just as good in the second quarter, consistently making extra passes to free. Like she did on Varejão’s 3, Fair penetrated inside which left Woolley open in the corner. On a catch-and-shoot, Woolley drained one of her tied-season-best four 3-pointers.

Throughout the third quarter, Virginia fought back, cutting Syracuse’s lead down to single digits midway through the period, but SU’s offense finally got back on the board after Fair again connected with Woolley, who drained another corner 3.

SU notched 19 assists by the final buzzer. Fair and Woolley led the team with five each while Kyra Wood, Rice and Latham all notched two assists.

SU weathers the storm

For a nearly four-and-a-half-minute stretch in the third quarter, Syracuse was held scoreless and saw its lead trimmed to 49-41 midway through. Against a conference opponent on the road, SU needed to settle the crowd down.

So it did what’s worked best over the last two games. Woolley, who scored a season-high 26 points, drained a key 3-pointer. Wood proceeded to score the Orange’s next five points, keeping SU up by eight. But then came Fair’s 3-point barrage. Combining Fair’s last 3 of the third with three free throw makes from Woolley and Rice, Syracuse closed the quarter on a 6-0 run and took a 66-51 lead into the fourth.

But much like it had in the third, the Cavaliers chipped right back at SU’s lead. With three minutes remaining, UVA cut Syracuse’s lead to 75-69, but Fair responded by canning a mid-range shot to end a nearly three-minute scoring drought.

Virginia continued to fight back, with Taylor going on a 4-0 run cutting SU’s lead to 77-73 with a minute-and-a-half left in the fourth quarter. But Fair nailed a mid-range jumper for her 31st point of the game. From there, Syracuse held pace with UVA, securing a six-point win.

Published on February 18, 2024 at 4:30 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon