Duke overcomes Fair's 22-point effort to upset No. 17 Syracuse
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) — Kennedy Brown scored 12 points, Reigan Richardson added 11, and Duke jumped out early and beat No. 17 Syracuse 58-45 on Thursday night, snapping the Orange's five-game win streak.
Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair, who entered with 3,257 career points, scored 22 on 7-of-25 shooting and is four points shy of tying Brittney Griner for fifth all-time. It was also her 22nd straight game in double figures this season.
Georgia Woolley added 11 points for Syracuse (22-5, 12-4 ACC), which scored a season low and its fewest since a 75-51 loss at North Carolina on Jan. 4. The Orange shot 25% (14 of 56) overall against the Blue Devils and were outrebounded 52-25.
Richardson scored five points in the second quarter as Duke outscored Syracuse 21-6 and led 35-17 at the break. Jadyn Donovan grabbed 11 of Duke’s season-high 33 first-half rebounds. Syracuse missed 12 of 15 shots in the second quarter and were 7-of-31 (23%) shooting overall in the first half. Fair scored six first-half points.
Donovan finished with eight points and a career-high 15 boards. Taina Mair scored seven points to go with nine assists for Duke (17-9, 9-6).
Ashlon Jackson's 3-pointer gave Duke a 54-34 lead with 5:20 remaining. Fair then scored seven points during a 11-2 surge to pull Syracuse to 56-45 with about a minute left.
Duke has won the last four in the series and is 9-3 overall. Syracuse's last win against Duke was a 64-55 victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Jan. 27, 2019.
Duke ends a four-game stretch against ranked teams with a home matchup on Sunday against No. 6 North Carolina State.
Syracuse hosts Pittsburgh on Sunday.
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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball