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Dyaisha Fair kept her dribble on the left wing and Saniaa Wilson came to set a screen.

Fair waited to see if Notre Dame’s KK Bransford would react and Bransford did, shifting slightly in anticipation.

Seeing that Bransford backed off a little, Fair opted to shoot, canning the 3-point jumper to tie the game at 47. Her shot came in the middle of a significant scoring run from Syracuse that saw them recover from a 12-point halftime deficit.

Before beating then-No. 14 UNC last week, SU would play each ranked opponent to a tee before being outlasted in the second half. Against Duke, NC State and Virginia Tech, Syracuse faltered in the fourth quarter. Unable to execute down the stretch, the Orange lost all of these matchups, including its last one versus Notre Dame — a 72-56 defeat on Jan. 15.

But, this afternoon, Syracuse (16-10, 7-8 Atlantic Coast) was unable to tack on its third-straight victory against the Fighting Irish (19-4, 10-3 ACC), losing 73-64. After a hot start in the opening 10 minutes, the Orange scored just six points in the second period, finishing 0-13 from the field heading into the second half. After both teams traded baskets to open the third quarter, Syracuse went on a 17-5 run to enter the fourth with a slim two-point lead. But, like they had done against ND in their first meeting, the Orange fell apart in the fourth as Notre Dame slowly started to break away.

“They [the players] understand, when it’s the fourth quarter, that’s when you have to turn it up defensively and I thought that’s what they did today,” said Notre Dame head coach Niele Ivey.

Early in the first quarter, ND’s frontcourt pairing of Maddy Westbeld and Kylee Watson exploited the Syracuse zone, utilizing the high-low action. When one big possessed the ball near the free-throw line, the other would shift toward the basket on the low block, behind the Orange defense, for an easy, uncontested finish.

However, despite its early lapses in defense, Syracuse matched the Fighting Irish basket-for-basket through the first five minutes. After Alaina Rice put SU on the board with a driving layup, Fair found Woolley in the left corner for an open 3.

Moments later, Rice stripped the ball from a Notre Dame player before throwing an outlet pass forward to Fair. With no one in front of her, Fair calmly laid the ball in to put Syracuse in front 7-8, its first lead of the game.

Despite struggling shooting against Pittsburgh last time out, Olivia Miles still put up 13 assists. Against Syracuse, her first points of the afternoon came in the mid-range coming off of a screen near the left elbow. Miles’ bucket was quickly followed up by an open three in the right corner for ND’s Cassandre Prosper.

Out of an inbounds play, with just 30 seconds left in the opening quarter, Woolley received the ball at the top of the key from Rice and shot without hesitation. Averaging 19 points in her last five outings, Woolley splashed in her second made three to help the Orange draw within one, 18-19.

After Woolley’s early six points, Notre Dame shifted to a man-to-man defense. At the start of the second quarter, Rice drove hard to her left on Sonia Citron, drawing a foul. Rice made only one at the charity stripe, but the possession sent Citron to the bench, removing the Fighting Irish’s second-leading scorer (14.4 points per game).

For the next five minutes, Syracuse couldn’t get a bucket. Strong missed, Teisha Hyman missed twice, and SU couldn’t get a clean look at the basket. With 2:28 left in the second quarter, Fair drew a shooting foul and hit both free throws to draw within five.

“I thought Cass [Prosper] did a good job on [Dyaisha] Fair. We threw multiple bodies at her and Sonia [Citron] did a good job also. I think Cass’ length really bothered her,” Ivey said.

However, on the ensuing possession, Miles drove into the middle of the paint, drawing a crowd before dumping the ball down to Natalija Marshall. As Marshall went up, she was fouled on the layup and still made the shot, converting the three-point play opportunity.

Going into its final possession of the half, Syracuse hadn’t made a single field goal since the opening three minutes of the second period. Fair passed to Perkins on the right wing who drove towards the middle. But, Prosper stripped the ball and headed the other way, going coast-to-coast before a retreating Rice tracked her down and committed a foul. One-tenth of a second remained as Prosper hit two more free throws, creating a 12-point lead for the Fighting Irish heading into the break.

To start the third quarter, both teams traded buckets but Notre Dame’s double-digit lead remained. Lewis got off to a strong start, knocking down two mid-range jumpers but Westbeld kept punishing Syracuse inside.

Working the ball around the perimeter, Perkins probed before retreating and kicking out to Fair. Positioned on the right wing, Fair rattled in a three-pointer. Then, in transition, she slowed the pace down before driving inside on miles, pulling up near the short corner for a fadeaway jump shot. The ND lead now stood at single-digits.

Bobbling the ball near the left wing, Westbeld fumbled possession and Lewis grabbed the loose ball. Sprinting across the timeline, leaving two Fighting Irish defenders behind her, she made an open layup, drawing contact in the process. Making her free-throw, Lewis brought the Orange within 5, 47-42, to cap off an 8-0 run in just over a minute.

Perkins drove toward the middle before two Notre Dame bigs halted further progress. Caught in the air, Perkins contorted her body in mid-air and somehow found an open Lewis a few steps away from the left corner. Uncontested, Lewis received Perkins’ pass, squared up and made the shot for her 11th point.

Fair, Woolley and Perkins all scored following Lewis’ jumper as a part of a 17-5 run in Syracuse’s favor to end the third quarter. Although Bransford connected on a mid-range for the final score of the period, the Orange entered the fourth up 54-52.

Westbeld hit a 3 from the right wing, but Lewis answered with an easy layup off a Notre Dame miscommunication. Similar to how the two teams started the third quarter, the final period began with score after score on both ends of the floor. After a Woolley two gave Syracuse a one point lead, Citron made a 3-pointer at the top of the key to put Notre Dame back in front, 62-60.

“I was really proud of the way that we held our composure, that we stayed poised within their run,” Ivey said.

The Fighting Irish opted to face-guard Fair around the 4:40 mark, assigning the job to Citron. Two minutes later, Miles, who had only six points at that point, recovered a Woolley miss and went the length of the court to lay the ball in, now 66-61.

Both teams missed before Fair tipped the ball away from Bransford. In response, a defender dragged the SU point guard to the ground, prompting a review for a potential flagrant foul. However, the check resulted in the confirmation of a standard foul.

Following a made free-throw from Miles that put Notre Dame up 67-61, Fair brought the ball down the court with just over a minute remaining in the game. But, in search of a cutting Perkins down low, Fair’s errant pass was intercepted by ND’s defense. Miles bided her time near half court inviting SU’s pressure and the Orange ultimately fouled to stop the clock. Then, Miles hit two more free throws to ice the game.

Published on February 12, 2023 at 6:23 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff