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Dyaisha Fair came up limping. She rounded the home bench before positioning herself again at halfcourt to receive the inbound. Fair had collided with Haley Cavinder while streaking along the left sideline during a fast break.

With Lashae Dwyer in front of her, Fair slowly brought the ball across the timeline from the backcourt before accelerating to her left and stopping on a dime at the left elbow. Dwyer was already lost, a couple paces away from where Fair began her ascent. The jumper swished.

Last time out, Syracuse failed to grab its second ranked win of the season against Florida State. The Seminoles looked comfortable throughout, receiving heavy offensive production from the forward-guard tandem of Ta’Niya Latson and Makayla Timpson, while SU struggled offensively. FSU hounded Fair off of pick-and-rolls, either switching or hedging to disrupt SU’s primary ball handler. Syracuse would go the final four minutes of gameplay without scoring a single field goal, losing 78-65.

Today, the scripts were flipped for the Orange, as SU had no trouble taking down Miami. Currently a middling team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Syracuse’s matchup with the Hurricanes was an important one. According to ESPN Bracketology, Miami is currently a ninth seed, and the Orange are a part of the ‘first four out.’ But, barring a few minutes of untidy play in the fourth quarter, Syracuse (17-11, 8-9 ACC) put together a strong argument to compete in March’s NCAA tournament with a 77-68 win over Miami (17-10, 10-6 ACC).

“The mindset we went into with today was just win this game and worry about what’s ahead when it comes,” SU forward Georgia Woolley said.

Alaina Rice opened the game for Syracuse by getting a tough shot over Haley to fall. Then, back-to-back 3-pointers from Woolley and Asia Strong helped the Orange jump out to an early 8-4 lead.

Teisha Hyman called for the ball and so did Rice, but Strong didn’t see them. Instead, the forward came off a screen and hesitated slightly before shooting from beyond the arc. The ball nestled into the back of the net for her second 3-point make of the day. A couple of minutes later, Strong hit another, this time from the right corner to increase the SU advantage to 17-11.

“Her being out there, she stretches the defense,” Syracuse head coach Felisha Legette-Jack said of Strong. “She makes us a very difficult team to face this late in the game.”

Kennedi Perkins got off to a quick start. Almost immediately after checking in, she drove toward the middle of the paint before knocking down a fallaway mid-range jumper. To start the second quarter, Perkins hit a 3-pointer at the top of the key before driving past Hanna Cavinder for a smooth, right-handed finish within the first minute of the period.

Against Louisville this season, three Orange starters went down in the first quarter, forcing Legette-Jack to call on Perkins as a floor general. Perkins impressed, tallying a then-career-high of seven points versus the Cardinals. She eclipsed that against Miami, finishing with 13.

“They were giving me the lane so I just did what I needed to do to score,” Perkins said. “I was feeling it obviously because I only missed one shot but I was just playing my game, my teammates were creating for me and I just took the shots I needed to take.”

Miami played catch-up for most of the first half. But, midway through the second period, the Hurricanes embarked on an 8-0 run, making it as close as 26-22 before Perkins stopped the bleeding with a long 2.

Syracuse would quickly regain control of the contest, though. Rice hit a corner 3 and Dwyer turned the ball over on the baseline, gifting possession back to the Orange. With five minutes remaining in the first quarter, SU looked poised for a win in its final home game of the season.

Jasmyne Roberts let Perkins inside on a hand-off attempt to Haley, and Perkins jumped the gap, stealing the ball and passing ahead to Fair for an easy transition bucket, Syracuse’s now up 31-22.

Legette-Jack referred to Perkins as “The Stabilizer.” Perkins laughed and repeated the sentiment, “I stabilize the team.”

After Destiny Harden recorded her first basket of the afternoon for the Hurricanes with a make from the right elbow, Hyman sprinted down the floor from the block, beating Ja’Leah Williams. Entering the paint, she jumped with Kyla Oldacre to avoid the Miami big in mid-air before twirling a finger-roll off the glass and in.

To start the second half, Rice caught the ball on the right before ducking down underneath the basket to finish on the left side. A quick steal on the other end then resulted in a layup for Woolley as she increased the deficit to 11 three minutes into the third quarter.

Fair waited patiently on the right corner as Rice led Syracuse in transition. Rice slowed down near the left elbow, surveying her options before spotting the wide-open Fair. Fair’s 3-point make put the Orange up 44-36.

“I certainly will miss her if she does not come back,” Legette-Jack said of Fair. “But if she does come back, there’s no reason why we can’t get to the Final Four. She’s that freaking good.”

Lola Pendande served as the lone bright spot for Miami in the third period. She started by making a short jumper inside the paint before hitting twice more, totaling six points in around five minutes. Matters got worse for the Hurricanes shortly after when Lazaria Spearman fell to the ground while trying to steal the ball from Rice. A stoppage ensued as Spearman was helped off the court.

Spearman finished with just two points, but Miami was led by Harden’s 19 points and eight rebounds. Pendande finished with 15 and Haley also chipped in with 11. For Syracuse, it was the first time since beating Boston College on Jan. 12 that five players finished in double figures. Fair and Woolley both had 14 points and five assists apiece while Rice and Strong produced 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The start of the final period brought a brief scare for the Syracuse home crowd. Miami’s full-court press gave the Orange a hard time getting the ball across the timeline and even resulted in a five-second violation on the baseline. While SU struggled with its ball handling, the Hurricanes slowly chipped away at what was once a 12-point lead, but continued to shoot poorly from the charity stripe at just 64.3%.

“We didn’t lose the fourth quarter,” Legette-Jack said. “We tied but we didn’t lose. Hey, it’s just a little pressure, a little pressure can’t hurt nobody.”

But baskets from Fair, Saniaa Wilson and Perkins resurrected the double-digit lead. Then, Woolley hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to give SU a 70-59 cushion with 4:42 left to play. From there, scoring numbers were low for both teams as the Orange enjoyed a win on senior day.

“We have no control over anything other than right now and our next,” Legette-Jack said. “But we’re going to enjoy both of them just the same.”

Published on February 19, 2023 at 3:24 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff