SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — In a four-point loss to South Carolina last season, Briana Day stayed out of foul trouble, played 37 minutes and helped Syracuse gain a 50-35 edge on the boards.

In a 29-point loss to the Gamecocks in last year’s Round of 32, she picked up two fouls within the first four minutes and could only play for 20 minutes.

Against the biggest team the Orange has faced this season, Day’s ability to stay in the game and be a factor in the paint was one of the key differences in turning those two losses into an 80-72 win in the Sweet 16 on Friday.

“Huge, because she didn’t get in foul trouble,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “That’s the whole game for her. First half she didn’t have any fouls. She was able to be aggressive in the second half. … I thought Briana was unbelievable inside.”

No. 4 seed Syracuse (28-7, 13-3 Atlantic Coast) advanced to its first-ever Elite Eight on Friday in the Denny Sanford Premier Center with an eight-point upset win over No. 1 seed South Carolina (33-2, 16-0 Southeastern) and Day was at the core of the Orange’s success. The junior center finished with 13 rebounds, nine of which were offensive, seven points and she took four charges. Despite fouling out with 16 seconds left, her 29 minutes allowed her presence to be felt throughout the game and it kept Syracuse in position to pull off the improbable victory.

The Orange still got outscored 40-18 in the paint, but it outrebounded South Carolina 47-42. Earlier in the week, SU’s Cornelia Fondren said rebounding would have to be a team effort and it was. Even point guard Alexis Peterson had four boards.

Packing the inside was the Orange’s game plan. Early on, the wings of SU’s 2-3 zone sagged toward the middle and sacrificed open 3s. That gave Tina Roy the chance to hit her five first-half 3s.

“If they make 3s, we’ll get our food and go home,” Hillsman said. “That was the game plan. I think once you put a game plan in place, you have some things you may adjust to. We did. We started going out on Roy a little bit more. But we still played the other four players in the paint.”

And it started with Day as an anchor down low.

With just over five minutes to play in the third quarter, the Day put back a layup off a miss. After making the basket, her shoe popped off, but she kept running down on the defensive end where she took a charge. Neither her missing shoe nor USC’s frontcourt — including 6-foot-5 A’ja Wilson and 6-foot-4 Alaina Coates — flustered Day.

“She had one of the biggest challenges of everyone playing tonight,” Peterson said of the 6-foot-4 Day. “They’re very, very tough inside. They’re physical. She stepped up and she took it … We can’t ask nothing more.”

Day got involved on the offensive end too, and with 2:26 left, she laid in a basket off a pass from Brianna Butler to give Syracuse a three-point lead. It was just one in a series of key late plays for the Orange.

After picking up two fouls in two minutes in the Round of 32 against No. 12 seed Albany, Day was forced to sit for the final 18 minutes of the first half. On Friday, she stayed in the game and kept SU competitive in an area of the floor it had to avoid being dominated in.

By the time she fouled out with 16 seconds left, Syracuse had a five-point lead and her work was good enough for the Orange to pull off the upset.

“It was tough because she has length and she can really jump out the gym,” Wilson said. “I feel like our post players handled her well. I feel we handled the post well, it really just comes down to them just executing.”

And Day, as much as anyone else on Syracuse, was the reason for that execution.

Published on March 26, 2016 at 1:12 am

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds