Louisville women's basketball team faced a narrow defeat against Syracuse on Sunday, losing 73-72, with the game's ending sparking controversy. Louisville's coach, Jeff Walz, was vocal in his criticism of the referees over a key decision in the final seconds.
With just 2.3 seconds remaining on the clock, Syracuse's Dyaisha Fair was fouled by Louisville's Olivia Cochran in a move to disrupt a potential scoring play. Although it appeared to be a strategic foul, given Louisville had only committed two fouls up to that point, the officials deemed Cochran's action an intentional foul for not making a play on the ball. This call awarded Fair two free throws, which she converted, tipping the game in Syracuse's favor.
Walz didn't mince words post-game, describing the officiating as “absolutely terrible.”
“It's a god-awful call … they should be embarrassed,” Walz said, per ESPN. “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,” Jeff Walz added.
Fair hit two three-pointers and her layup with 2:36 left finished a 13-3 run, giving the Orange a 69-68 lead, their first in the game. Cochran then scored four points, before Perkins made it a one-point game at 72-71 for Syracuse with under a minute to go.
Fair scored 29 points and Woolley 14 for the Orange (20-4, 10-3 ACC). Latham added nine points and six blocks. Nyla Harris set a new career high with 22 points and 11 rebounds for Louisville (20-5, 9-3), continuing its streak until this game, including a previous win on Feb. 1.
Louisville had a slight edge at halftime, 40-37, after a late basket by Harris countered by Fair's three-pointer. Harris and Fair were the top scorers at the half with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Kiki Jefferson's early second-half efforts widened Louisville's lead, but the Orange cut it down, only trailing by five entering the final quarter.
Next, Syracuse faces Miami and Louisville meets Boston College, both on Thursday. Louisville then hosts No. 16 Virginia Tech.
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