No. 6 seed Syracuse was on upset alert until the final minutes of Sunday's NCAA tournament opener against No. 11 Arizona.
Then Dyaisha Fair took over.
The All-ACC guard went on a personal 11-0 run in the late stages of the fourth quarter to secure a 74-69 win for Syracuse, the program's first NCAA tournament win since 2021. The win denied Arizona a fifth-straight trip to the second round of tournament play.
The Wildcats put the Orange on upset alert early, opening up a 21-15 lead in the first quarter. They led 37-32 at halftime before Syracuse fought back to tie things up in the third. The teams entered the fourth tied at 51-51 and engaged in a back-and-forth battle down the stretch.
With Syracuse trailing, 66-65 in the final two minutes Fair pulled up for a transition 3-pointer to put the Orange back on top.
Dyaisha Fair is her pic.twitter.com/uFNP1oPStd
— Sara Holland (@SaraaHolland) March 23, 2024
An offensive foul on the other end secured possession for the Orange.
Kyra Wood draws the charge 👀
— Syracuse Women's Basketball (@CuseWBB) March 23, 2024
📺 ESPN2 pic.twitter.com/AGYz1xPFw1
The result was another Fair bucket to extend Syracuse's lead to 70-66. Two free throws on Syrcause's ensuing possession extended that lead again to 72-66 with 32 seconds remaining.
When the game was done, Fair scored the last 13 points for Syracuse in a 32-point effort.
This is a developing story that will be updated.