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It was only fitting that if Syracuse was going to pull out a comeback win against Louisville it would have to be from the free throw line. When SU traveled to the KFC Yum! Center 10 days ago, it shot 11-for-23 from the charity stripe in an 81-69 loss. On Sunday, SU hit nine of its first 11 free throws, but its 12th and 13th attempts would decide the game.

With the final seconds winding down, Fair penetrated inside the arc after she received a cross-court pass from Kennedi Perkins, but a costly intentional foul from Louisville’s Olivia Cochran sent her to the free throw line. On Feb. 1, Fair shot 4-for-9 from the charity stripe. But to complete SU’s fourth-quarter comeback, she needed to be perfect.

“It’s a rare thing for me to miss free throws like that (against Louisville on Feb. 1),” Fair said postgame. “It was important not only to me but for us to win the game, it was important for me to come through.”

Fair’s pair of last-second free throws capped off No. 23 Syracuse’s (20-4, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) fourth-quarter surge that propelled it to a 73-72 win over No. 15 Louisville (20-5, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference). The Orange trailed by as many as nine with under seven minutes left and only led for 35 seconds of the game. But a 19-9 run to close the game clinched their 20th win of the season.

With 6:45 left and Syracuse trailing 63-54, head coach Felisha Legette-Jack made key substitutions inserting guard Perkins and forward Alyssa Latham into the lineup.

In their first game versus Louisville, the Orange struggled to adapt to the Cardinals’ match-up zone. Their defense started with a man-to-man, but once SU penetrated inside the arc, they would crash the paint and bait Syracuse shooters into mid-range shots.

As it did 10 days ago, the Cardinals also applied consistent pressure to Fair any time she touched the ball. Though she was more dominant early on than she was in the first matchup, Fair was consistently swarmed when bringing the ball up the court our around the perimeter.

To counter that, Syracuse brought Perkins into the game. With Perkins bringing the ball up, it forced Louisville to not trap the primary ball-handler.

“Once you put (Perkins) out there and you’re trying to trap her, first she’s going to hurt you. She’s as strong as a mule,” Legette-Jack said. “Second, you’re not going to be able to trap her because she can go east and west very quickly but then she goes north and south even faster. So she was the answer and they had to back off.”

Though Perkins missed SU’s first shot once she touched the floor, Georgia Woolley scored her 14th point on the Orange’s next trip down the floor to cut the Cardinals’ lead down to seven. Harris responded with two made free throws, but Syracuse answered right back.

Serving as the primary ball handler, Perkins dribbled on the left wing while Fair, with help from Latham sealing Sydney Taylor in the paint, freed herself and drained a catch-and-shoot 3 at the midway point of the fourth quarter.

Over the next minute, Saniaa Wilson converted on a second-chance opportunity after corralling one of SU’s 20 offensive rebounds. Then Fair, who hit all but one of the Orange’s six 3-pointers, connected on her fifth triple of the game, cutting Syracuse’s deficit to 65-64 with four minutes remaing.

Taylor, despite Louisville’s struggles on 3s, nailed a triple to regain a four-point lead. But Perkins, just a 3.0 point per game scorer, drilled a mid-range jumper 12 seconds later for her first points of the game.

Following a block from Wilson, Perkins missed a potential game-tying layup but Latham pulled down the rebound and was fouled. After going 1-for-2 from the line, SU trailed 68-67 with three minutes left.

Then Wilson blocked her second shot in as many Louisville possessions, leading to a fast-break layup that gave Syracuse its first lead of the game. Though 33 seconds later, Cochran nailed a pair of free throws to regain the lead. On the other end, Perkins missed a mid-range jumper and Cochran poured in a layup, extending Louisville’s lead to three.

Perkins was undeterred offensively following her previous misses. She was wide open on the left wing and Fair swung her the ball. Russell initially recovered but soon thereafter moved down low to help contain Wilson in the post.

After taking a dribble inside the 3-point line, Perkins canned the jumper to cut SU’s deficit to 72-71 with under a minute to play.

Looking for an insurance basket, Louisville’s Kiki Jefferson penetrated into the paint and was blocked by Latham, her sixth of the game. Jefferson pulled down the offensive rebound off her miss, but Latham caused a tie-up. The Orange regained possession and Perkins dished to Fair before she put in the final dagger.

“We don’t have quit in us. No matter how much we get down… it doesn’t matter. We have to play until the last horn sounds and you just really never know what can happen if you don’t,” Fair said.

Published on February 11, 2024 at 2:43 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon