GREENSBORO, N.C. — Mariya Moore came charging down the right side of the lane and Syracuse center Bria Day had to scramble to keep up, like Louisville had been doing for most of the first three quarters.

Moore’s layup would have given the Cardinals the lead with two and a half minutes to play. It would have been the fifth lead change of the quarter. It would have been the next punch in a game filled with them.

“‘Bri, you can get this ball,” Day thought to herself.

Day leapt off her feet, extended her arm over Moore’s head and swatted the ball into teammate Cornelia Fondren’s hands. Fondren pushed the ball up the court as the Orange didn’t have time to celebrate. Twenty-five seconds later, Brianna Butler knocked down a jumper to give SU a three-point lead, one it wouldn’t give up the rest of the way.

“That block was the most important part of the game,” Syracuse forward Taylor Ford said.

The No. 3 seed Orange (25-6, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) fended off several of No. 2 seed Louisville’s (25-7, 15-1) surges to grind out an 80-75 win over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in the ACC tournament semifinals and extend its win streak to 11 games. SU will face No. 1 seed Notre Dame (30-1, 16-0) on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. for the ACC championship at the Greensboro Coliseum. The win also puts Syracuse in prime position to receive a top-four seed in the NCAA tournament and host the first weekend.

The last time Syracuse lost was against Louisville on Jan. 25 and it was outscored 34-18 in the paint and outrebounded 48-37. On Saturday, the Orange won the battle inside, 40-34, and grabbed two more boards than the Cardinals.

“Make the game grimy and just get tough,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “And that’s what we talked about the last three minutes of the game was getting every rebound, contesting every shot, getting a body on a body and just toughen the game out.”

Bria Day played 16 minutes, five more than she averages, including the final 3:23 after her twin sister Briana Day fouled out. Hillsman previously said Bria Day is the most improved SU player since the start of the season. On Saturday, there wasn’t any drop off from the 7.8 per game rebounder to the 3.3 one.

After beating North Carolina State in the quarterfinals on Friday, Briana Day said what stands out about Louisville is its physicality. As the teams went blow for blow, the Day sisters battled all game with ACC Player of the Year, Myisha Hines-Allen, who scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds. But her performance still wasn’t good enough throughout the whole game for Louisville head coach Jeff Walz.

“She’s kicking your ass, that’s what she’s doing,” Walz yelled to Hines-Allen in the second quarter as Bria Day shut her down.

“She’s whooping your ass.”

Thirteen of Hines-Allen’s points came in the third quarter and she screamed after nearly every Louisville offensive possession that ended with points. But she only scored four in the fourth as the game hung in the balance.

With five minutes left, Briana Day posted Hines-Allen up, spun around her and deftly finished in a lefty layup while absorbing Hines-Allen’s foul. Briana Day clapped once, high-fived SU guard Brittney Sykes and sunk the free throw to give Syracuse a one-point lead.

When Briana Day fouled out, Hines-Allen stomped twice in excitement with SU’s best interior defender heading to the bench. But the opportunity to capitalize against Syracuse’s backup came and went without Hines-Allen taking full advantage.

Syracuse’s frontcourt depth was tested, by both Allen-Hines and foul trouble, but whether it was Briana or Bria Day, the Orange rose to the challenge, securing a berth into its first-ever ACC title game.

“Everything was contested and they really fought hard,” Hillsman said, “and we just came out and made a couple plays late.”

Published on March 5, 2016 at 7:48 pm

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