GREENSBORO, N.C. — When Notre Dame’s Brianna Turner smacked Syracuse center Briana Day’s arm on a layup attempt, it echoed through the 5,017-person filled Greensboro Coliseum.

Day raised up her left arm through the contact and scooped in the layup as the referees whistled for a foul.

Despite being matched up with the conference’s leader in blocked shots, Day flourished offensively, shooting 8-for-12 on her way to 17 points. She was the only post player to score for SU and the only player to shoot over 50 percent. Day was a bright spot for a No. 17 Syracuse (25-7, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) offense that was held under 60 points for the first time in six games. Despite her efforts, the Orange fell to No. 2 Notre Dame (31-1, 16-0) in the conference title game, 68-57, on Sunday.

“We threw the ball down to (Day),” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “We knew we had to attack (Turner) a little bit down in the paint and we did that. Just made some good moves.”

Notre Dame matched up with Day in a way that Hillsman doesn’t think anyone would have expected. Despite having one of the top post defenders on her, the Irish double teamed with a guard when Day got the ball down low.

While rolling off pick-and-rolls, it was the opposite. UND defended her with a guard switching to deny the pass right away and a center or forward crashing in from behind to stop her shot.

“It says a lot about what they think of her as a post player,” Hillsman said, “that when the ball went inside, they doubled her. So it was a game where I thought she played really tough, very physical, tough basketball game.”

When Syracuse was blown out at Notre Dame on Jan. 21, Day was just 3-for-11 with six points. Her first two shots of the first half in that game were swatted away by Turner.

Though Turner was still able to knock away one of Day’s shots on Saturday, the Syracuse center finished the game as the most efficient shooter on the floor.

“She was blocking my shot all night long so I didn’t want that to go down this game,” Day said. “I just had to play smart and use my counter moves. Know that’s she’s a shot blocker and that’s what she’s trying to do.”

Day’s countermoves consisted of pump fakes and reverse layups. If she got the ball on the right baseline she’d swing under the basket and make the shot on the left side.

On one play, she caught a pass about 10 feet from the basket and turned toward it. She paused, dipped her shoulder and faked a step to the right before running left and finger rolling in the lefty shot.

“Briana Day played huge, you know?” SU guard Brianna Butler said. “There’s a lot of hype behind Brianna Turner, but there should be hype behind Brianna Day. She came out and played.”

Day entered the game averaging less than seven points per game against ranked opponents this season and had nearly two and a half times that Sunday. She had averaged a shooting percentage of 37 percent on the season, but connected on almost 67 percent of her shots against the No. 2 team in the title game.

“She got the ball in the post and was strong with it,” Syracuse guard Cornelia Fondren said. “If she can do that every game she can be good.”

With just seconds left on the clock, Syracuse guard Maggie Morrison launched a 3-pointer in transition that bounced out. Day, the only player in the paint and the only one still playing, caught the ball and quickly released it for the buzzer-beating layup.

Her last basket of the afternoon required no moves. Turner was out at the 3-point line defending the initial shot. It was the only one in her 30 minutes that came easy.

“It was big,” Syracuse guard Alexis Peterson said of Day’s play. “… If we can get her playing like that, that’s good for us and good for our team.”

Published on March 6, 2016 at 5:12 pm

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