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In its potential final games at the JMA Wireless Dome of the 2023-24 season, Syracuse’s offense looked among the worst it has this year. Holding a five-game winning streak, SU hosted Duke on Feb. 22 looking for its sixth-straight win, yet turned in its worst shooting performance of the season.

The Blue Devils held the Orange to a 25.0% clip from the field resulting in a season-low 45 points in a 13-point loss. Three days later, Syracuse hosted Pitt and its offensive struggles continued. Despite the Panthers holding the worst record in the ACC, they led SU by eight points heading into the fourth quarter and the Orange’s field goal percentage was under 30%. But then, like she’s done countless times this season, Dyaisha Fair stepped up in the fourth quarter to lead Syracuse to a 63-53 win. In addition to Fair’s superb offense, SU played one of its best defensive quarters of the season, surrendering just four points.

Following their two-game homestand, the Orange traveled to Raleigh for a top-20 matchup versus NC State to conclude the regular season. Before their loss against Duke, the Wolfpack lost to North Carolina, marking the first time they lost consecutive games this season.

Here are some observations from No. 19 Syracuse’s (23-6, 13-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) overtime loss to NC State (24-5, 12-5 ACC):

Early mid-range success

With the Orange coming off back-to-back sluggish offensive performances, it needed to get into an early offensive rhythm. Though NC State commanded an 11-5 lead three minutes into the game, the Orange quickly turned their deficit around. After draining a 3-pointer two minutes earlier, Fairrange before draining a pull-up jumper to cut the lead to 11-7.

SU struggled to get an open look offensively following a defensive stop before dishing the ball to Izabel Varejão near the free throw line. With the shot clock winding down, Varejão drilled a mid-range shot, bringing the Orange within two. Syracuse trailed 13-12 midway through the quarter, but after Kyra Wood — who scores almost exclusively at the rim — made a jumper, SU took a 14-13 lead.

NC State’s Mimi Collins answered with a mid-range shot of her own, then Georgia Woolley drilled a fadeaway shot along the baseline to take the lead right back. Woolley proceeded to score Syracuse’s next two buckets from the midrange, helping it command a 25-21 lead after the first quarter. It was SU’s highest-scoring first quarter since it scored 26 points in the opening quarter versus St. Francis on Dec. 26, 2023.

Dyaisha Fair bounces back

Though Fair put together a masterpiece in the fourth quarter versus Pitt, she had shot 14-for-46 (30.4%) over her last two games. After making her first two shots, Fair nailed a step-back 3 after NC State’s Saniya Rivers canned a mid-range jumper. Two and a half minutes later, Fair continued her 3-point dominance, draining a shot five feet beyond the arc after the Orange corralled three offensive rebounds.

Following a perfect 4-for-4 first quarter, Fair scored at the rim four minutes into the second quarter, giving SU a 31-23 lead. But from there, she was silenced, and so was the rest of Syracuse’s offense. The Wolfpack closed the half on a 16-4 run, taking a 38-35 lead into the third.

Despite her sluggish second quarter, Fair quickly responded after halftime, drilling her first shot from the midrange to cut SU’s deficit to 42-39. Back-to-back buckets from Varejão and Woolley proceeded to give the Orange a 44-42 lead and a corner 3 from Fair extended the lead to five.

Rivers scored two straight points from the charity stripe, but Fair answered with a side-step 3 from the left wing to give SU a 50-44 lead, her 21st point of the night. Fair finished the game with 26 points, shooting an efficient 6-for-13 from 3 and 9-for-21 from the field.

Nightmare second quarter

Syracuse’s first quarter couldn’t have gone any better. It shot 11-for-17 from the field, 3-for-4 from 3 and commanded a lead against a ranked rival on the road. Yet, almost everything went wrong in the second quarter. The tough mid-range shots — or anything else — were no longer falling.

Alyssa Latham scored a layup for the first points of the quarter, but SU didn’t score again until three minutes later. In that time NC State also struggled as Syracuse still led 29-23. Fair’s layup got the Orange’s lead back up to six, but they didn’t score for another four minutes when Sophie Burrows bullied her way into the lane and converted from close range. NC State had tied the game 31-31, but Burrows’ bucket regained SU the lead.

Though Rivers took over the last two minutes of the first half. She responded to Burrows with a fastbreak layup where she was fouled. Rivers missed the ensuing free throw but after the Wolfpack caused a tie-up, they had the possession arrow and retained the ball. Off the inbounds pass, Rivers canned a 3, giving NC State a 36-33 lead, its first lead since the first quarter.

Wood nailed two free throws to cut SU’s deficit down to one, but a late foul from Saniaa Wilson with under a second remaining in the half brought Aziaha James to the line, where she gained the Wolfpack a three-point lead heading into the half.

Cardiac Syracuse falls short in overtime

It was only fitting that Syracuse’s final regular season game would come down to the fourth quarter. It’s been a quarter where it has pulled out some of its best wins, including dominant come-from-behind wins against Clemson and then-No. 15 Florida State. The Orange have also pulled out games where they weren’t trailing, as they did in both of their games versus Notre Dame.

On Thursday, SU trailed 54-52 heading into the final quarter. Collins scored the first points of the quarter, giving NC State a four-point lead. Fair proceeded to answer from 3. Over the next couple of minutes, both teams struggled from the field until Varejão went on a personal 5-0 run, draining a jumper and converting on an and-one to give Syracuse a 60-56 lead four minutes into the fourth quarter.

Over five minutes later, the Orange retained a 64-61 lead. But after a nearly 50/50 out-of-bounds call went NC State’s way with 1:21 remaining, Rivers canned a 3, tying the game 64-64. Woolley tried re-gaining the lead on the other end, but she traveled with 45 seconds remaining, giving the Wolfpack a potential two-for-one opportunity.

Though it didn’t go two-for-one, NC State got the ball down low to River Baldwin, who gave it a 64-66 lead. Then chaos ensured. SU initially tried getting Fair and Varejão into the pick and roll but it was clamped, forcing Woolley to take a contested mid-range shot. Off the miss, Latham caused a tie-up, and Syracuse retained possession. With the clock winding down, Fair fired to Varejão in the corner, who missed a 3. But Latham fought for the rebound and was fouled with 0.1 seconds on the clock. Needing both free throws to take the game to overtime, the freshman drained both.

Both teams struggled offensively throughout the first half of overtime, but Syracuse took a 69-68 lead after Burrows swooshed a corner 3. Yet NC State closed the game on a 7-2 run, winning 75-71.

Published on February 29, 2024 at 9:52 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon