Syracuse, N.Y. — With 5 seconds left in the matchup between the Syracuse Orange and Louisville Cardinals, the Orange had possession down one.
A pass reached fifth-year guard Dyaisha Fair, who stumbled and tried to find a way out of the heavy Cardinal defense on the wing.
Fair dribbled outside and managed to outpace her defender. Then, with just two seconds left on the clock, Fair was fouled by Louisville forward Olivia Cochran.
A rowdy dome crowd grew silent in anticipation as fans were not clear what the call would be.
Then, the officials ruled it an intentional foul, giving Fair two free throws and Syracuse the ensuing possession.
Fair hit both free throws, ran out the clock, and delivered No. 23 Syracuse a 73-72 win against No. 15 Louisville.
Following the final buzzer, the team rushed the court as an emotional Fair ran into her teammates’ arms and coach Felisha Legette-Jack held back tears. Then, with a final show of emotion from the winners, the team celebrated their win with the home crowd.
“My husband gave me a hug and he said, ‘Hold back the tears.’ Tell my floodgates that, my tear ducts,” Legette-Jack joked.
“You got to go through the emotion that you feel, not be afraid of it, not be ashamed of it. You know, I just am so proud of this team.”
The Orange has not been strangers to emotional victories this season. It started its season with doubts on Legette-Jack’s health, has won eight games by less than 10 points and relied on fourth-quarter heroics multiple times.
Still, this game, in which Syracuse erased a nine-point deficit midway through the fourth quarter — proved to make Legette-Jack show her emotions more than any other time this season.
“Every time that horn blows and we have success, I feel that same way,” Legette-Jack said. “Today was a close game, so you saw the tears publicly, but every night I go home, I show those emotions to my windshield as I drive home.”
Before the team’s win, however, Legette-Jack was in control….
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