Day records 7 blocks, 13 rebounds in Syracuse win over Wake Forest
Briana Day came back from injury and dominated the post against Wake Forest in a 73-62 Syracuse win. Margaret Lin | Staff Photographer
Briana Day was sprawled across the court four minutes into the second half. Head coach Quentin Hillsman and a trainer were gathered around Day, whose heavy breathing was audible from across the court just after she tweaked her ankle.
On the Syracuse sideline, associate head coach Vonn Read told other players to get ready to step up as Day limped to the locker room.
But five minutes later, Day returned to the game and added five more crucial rebounds as Syracuse pulled away late.
“Briana really, really grew up today,” Hillsman said. “… Last year, I don’t know if she would have came back tough like that. I think she understood the urgency. She understood that we really needed her.”
Despite missing the game’s final 2:19 after fouling out, Day’s 13 rebounds and seven blocks — tied for a career-high — were instrumental in No. 25 Syracuse’s (12-5, 2-2 Atlantic Coast) 73-62 win over Wake Forest (9-9, 0-4) in front of 364 in the Carrier Dome on Thursday night.
And though Day only totaled six points, she battled down low with the ACC’s fourth-best rebounder, Dearica Hamby, who Hillsman called a “future WNBA lottery pick.”
“It was really tough playing with fouls and then the injury but … I feel like I came back and did the best I could, knowing that I was still hurting,” Day said. “It was all for my team, really.
“That’s all it is every night.”
While the Orange’s Alexis Peterson shined with a career-high 32 points, Day’s gritty, grind-it-out performance keyed SU’s 28 offensive rebounds and a 47-35 overall rebounding advantage against the Demon Deacons.
Day tallied six first-half blocks, and did a good job defensively on Hamby, who took fewer shots in the paint as the game progressed.
“I usually don’t block because they always call the foul, but I guess tonight, (the refs) were my friends tonight,” Day said. “They just let me play basketball.”
After Day returned, she continued to impress even though she admitted after the game the ankle injury slowed her down.
With six and a half minutes left in the game and Syracuse possessing a five-point lead, Diamond Henderson drove to the paint and forced a layup that ricocheted off the backboard.
In the middle of four Wake Forest players, Day rose up, snagged the ball out of the air and kicked out a pass to an open Brianna Butler, who knocked down a 3 to open up an eight-point Orange lead.
“Briana’s a tough player,” Peterson said. “A lot of people may think she’s undersized or she’s too small but Briana has one of the biggest hearts.”
But Hamby responded. The Demon Deacons trailed SU 59-51 with 4:43 to go and over the next minute and a half, and Hamby scored six straight points to pull WFU within two.
On the next possession, Henderson missed another jumper, but Day got position in front of Hamby and grabbed the rebound. She missed her put-back, but out-muscled Hamby for the second consecutive board. Five seconds later, Peterson hit a 3 with 2:39 to go.
Day’s two rebounds against Hamby were the two final plays she made before fouling out, but what she accomplished in her 28 minutes on the court was more than enough.
Said Hillsman: “For Briana Day to come off and play like that, what else can you ask for?”
