Syracuse, N.Y. — On a day when Dyaisha Fair reached a remarkable scoring milestone, it was a pass that made the difference.
Fair, who became the 16th player in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history with 3,000 points, dropped a pass into the lap of Alyssa Latham for a game-winning layup with 7.2 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter to topple Clemson on Sunday.
The basket gave Syracuse an 83-82 victory, allowed the Orange to fully celebrate Fair’s milestone moment and will have Syracuse in the conversation to rejoin the Top 25 next week.
Fair started the day just 14 points away from becoming the 16th player in Division I women’s basketball history to score 3,000 points as the Tigers came to the JMA Wireless Dome.
She hit the mark by knocking down a free throw with 5:02 remaining against Clemson, part of a 19-point second-half comeback.
Fair, held to two points in the first half, exploded in the second to finish with 21. She knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of the third quarter and seemed to exhale with relief, then blitzed the Tigers by scoring 14 of her 21 points in the fourth.
The Orange (14-2, 4-1 ACC) started the week just outside both the AP and USA Today Top 25 polls and will be contention for a return next thanks to losses from West Virginia and North Carolina, both of whom are ranked a few spots ahead. Clemson (8-9, 1-4 ACC) lost its fourth consecutive game.
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