Briana Day sprinted straight toward the hoop. With no one in front of her, she was open for a layup after making a block on defense. But Alexis Peterson’s pass went over her head and out of bounds, wasting a rare open look Day had at the basket.

A minute later in the third quarter, Day picked up her dribble in the corner, split-seconds before being trapped. She frantically passed to Jade Phillips, who was standing a few feet beside her. Before Day could get inside, Phillips passed the ball into the paint where no one was standing.

Again, the ball flew out of bounds. Again wasting a play that, had it developed, could have gone back to Day. Again, the Arizona State lead stayed out of reach.

“We weren’t aggressive enough as far as getting me the ball and playing inside-out,” Day said. “I don’t think it had to do with (Arizona State). They weren’t playing that great defense on me. It was just our offense.”

The No. 19 Orange (6-3) got beat up inside for the second consecutive game against a ranked opponent — this time outrebounded 44-23 — in a 61-54 loss to No. 24 Arizona State (5-3) on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. And the junior center Day, who finished third in the Atlantic Coast Conference in rebounds last season, couldn’t salvage SU’s worst offensive performance of the season, finishing with six points and seven boards.

Day anchored the middle of SU’s 2-3 zone defense, a scheme that lends itself to rebounding opportunities and resulted in 18 ASU offensive boards.

“I don’t know if it’s more about (ASU’s dominance) than it is more about us having to do a better job in our scheme with rebounding,” Syracuse head coach Quentin Hillsman said.

With the Orange trailing 34-28 early in the third quarter, Day was called for a three-second violation. On SU’s next possession, ASU’s Kelsey Moos ripped the ball out of Day’s hands at midcourt. When Day went to grab it back, she was called for a foul.

Day came off the court about five minutes later with a disgusted look on her face — nose pinched, eyebrows pushed together, mouth open.

“Gotta get loose balls,” Day said as she walked down the Syracuse bench after being subbed out.

The Orange eventually cut the lead to four with 9:25 to play off a Brianna Butler 3. But Arizona State answered Syracuse’s press with a three-quarter-court heave to Quinn Dornstauder. The pass flew over Day’s head and Dornstauder beat her all the way to the hoop for an uncontested layup. Another loose ball followed by more Sun Devils points. The lead was back to six and SU got back within four just once the rest of the game.

Though Day and Dornstauder are both listed at 6 feet, 4 inches, Dornstauder had a considerable size advantage. She said her plan was to not let Day get the ball comfortably in the post, something that was well executed.

“The best defense is not letting the player catch the ball at all,” Dornstauder said.

Against No. 5 Maryland nearly two weeks ago — the last time Syracuse played a ranked team — Day’s 10 points and seven rebounds paled in comparison to UMD center Brionna Jones who scored 18 and contributed to the Terrapins’ 24-rebound advantage.

The Orange has been outrebounded six times this year but twice in the past four games. SU got dominated inside by more than 20 boards, which Day said falls on her shoulders.

“I definitely feel like I didn’t rebound like I know I can, so I do take a lot of personal responsibility for that,” Day said. “That’s what I do and hearing that we got outrebounded by 21, that’s not acceptable.”

Even with the disparity on the glass, Syracuse lost by just seven. But Day’s production wasn’t good enough in any facet to give the Orange a victory.

Published on December 12, 2015 at 5:59 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds