Dyaisha Fair Leads Syracuse to Win Over Bucknell

Syracuse women's basketball bounced back to earn fifth win of the season.

If you bleed orange, there’s lots to be thankful for this Thanksgiving as Coach Legette-Jack and the SU Women’s basketball team secure their fifth win of the season against the Bucknell Bisons.

It was a game that started and ended in a very physical matchup. Though Syracuse trailed by four at the end of the first quarter, they rallied back with the help of their star player, Dyaisha Fair, to secure a 65-48 win. 

Fair had a total of 25 out of the total 65 points tonight and was the reason Syracuse got the lead in the second quarter and kept it that way the rest of the game. 

After the game, Fair came to the press conference wearing an orange hard hat with bling representing all she accomplished on the court.

“Bling for being the bomb,” said Coach Felisha Legette-Jack. “And all the little things. The points were one thing, but the energy on defense she did and the loose balls she went after. All the different tangibles that you can’t see on the stats. That’s the person that’s going to get the bling for being the bomb.” 

Coming into tonight’s matchup many eyes were on Bucknell’s Emma Shaffer, the second leading scorer for the Bisons, but Syracuse was able to stop her from scoring any points at all. Coach Felisha Legette-Jack says that her team isn’t intimidated by any player.

“We’re not afraid of anybody and their scoring or rebounding,” said Coach Jack. “We have a job to do about who we are and it’s never about emphasizing stopping her, it’s about becoming who we are supposed to become.”

As Coach Jack put it, Fair lit the fire for the team and allowed for other players like Teisha Hyman and Dariauna Lewis to score more points. Both Hyman and Lewis combined scored a total of 24 points, just one less point than Dyaisha Fair’s total for the game.

In order to keep the momentum going into the upcoming game against Purdue, Coach Jack says they have to first focus on this win.

“We’re going to enjoy today. We’re just trying to really like each other. We love each other but we’re starting to like each other because we’re all still fresh,” said Coach Jack. “We’re not going to go forward with Purdue until we celebrate today.”

Next up, Syracuse takes on Purdue November 30th on the road at 6:00 p.m. Eastern.