Jeff Walz rips officiating after Syracuse downs Louisville on late FTs
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Dyaisha Fair made two free throws after an intentional foul with 2.3 seconds to play, lifting No. 23 Syracuse to a 73-72 win over No. 15 Louisville on Sunday.
Alyssa Latham had the 12th Syracuse blocked shot, stopping Kiki Jefferson with 33 seconds left, but then the Orange were scrambling to get a good look late in the shot clock. Georgia Woolley drove into the lane and had a step-back go off the front of the rim.
On a tipped rebound, Kennedi Perkins got the ball to Fair, and to try to disrupt a last play, Olivia Cochran fouled, a good strategy with the Cardinals having only two fouls. However, Cochran didn’t go for the ball as she grabbed Fair, and an intentional foul was called.
Louisville coach Jeff Walz was outraged after the game over the call.
“It’s a god-awful call. It’s absolutely terrible officiating; they should be embarrassed,” Walz said, noting he was expecting a fine for his comments. “Someone has to start holding the officials accountable. That call was the worst call I’ve seen in my 29 years of coaching.
“If we’re going to start calling that, every foul at the end of the game when a team has to foul is intentional … every foul is … we all know it is. But to call it in a one-point game with 2.5 seconds left, it’s awful, it’s atrocious, it’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing for our league.”
Fair had two 3s, and her layup with 2:36 left capped a 13-3 run that gave the Orange their first lead of the game at 69-68. Cochran scored the next four points before Perkins brought Syracuse within 72-71 with just less than a minute remaining.
Fair finished with 29 points for the Orange (20-4, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), and Woolley had 14. Latham had nine points and six blocks.
Nyla Harris scored a career high for the second straight game, finishing with 22 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville (20-5, 9-3), which had won eight straight in the series, including 81-69 on Feb. 1. Jefferson scored 13 points.
Louisville led 40-37 at the half, shooting 50% despite missing six straight shots before Harris scored inside in the closing seconds. Syracuse answered with Fair’s 3-pointer from the left-wing logo as time ran out.
Harris had 14 points and Fair 13 in the half.
Jefferson opened the second half with a 3 and had two free throws as Louisville quickly opened a 47-37 lead. The Orange got the deficit down to three after four points from Fair and they had the ball but couldn’t get closer. Louisville led 57-52 entering the fourth quarter.
Syracuse plays at Miami on Thursday when Louisville goes to Boston College before hosting No. 16 Virginia Tech next Sunday.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.