Women's Basketball

Briana Day looks to continue progression into next season after breakout year for Syracuse

Larry E. Reid Jr. | Staff Photographer

Briana Day had a breakout year for Syracuse. Next season, she'll look to continue it by developing a mid-range jump shot.

At the beginning of the season, head coach Quentin Hillsman said one of Syracuse’s strengths was its depth at center.

And at the end of the season, Hillsman said its lack of depth at that position was its Achilles’ heel.

Though almost all of the grunt work down low fell on Briana Day’s shoulders, she shined.

“Freshman year, I saw (Day) was really athletic,” forward Taylor Ford said. “This year, I’ve just seen her getting more of the all-around play and I think her junior year will be even better.”

At the conclusion of her freshman year, teammates listed Day among the team’s most improved players. Her performance proved her teammates right this past season, which ended in the NCAA tournament’s Round of 32. Heading into next year, Day will be counted on as one of the Orange’s (22-10, 11-5 Atlantic Coast) most indispensible players.



Day averaged 26.8 minutes, 9.4 points and her 10.4 rebounds per game were third best in the ACC.

As the only big in SU’s four-guard lineup, Day mostly stayed inside the paint and used her athleticism to get around players with a size advantage. But in the offseason, Day is looking to improve her mid-range jump shot, so if she plays outside the paint, defenders would have to make a choice about how to stop her.

“Just coming back healthier, a little stronger,” Day said, “hoping that I’m going to extend my game to how I want it to be and just become more versatile.”

Last summer, Day stayed in Syracuse to take classes and work on her game and it paid off. She plans to do the same this upcoming summer and while she doesn’t have a specific workout regimen yet, she plans on improving her footwork, which can help her compensate for her size disadvantage.

“If you work at your craft, you’re going to get better,” Hillsman said. “That’s great for her to do that. You have to want to do that. You have to want to stay here and get better. She does want to do it, so that’s a big plus for us.”

Day pointed to all the close games the Orange lost against ranked teams as the thing that stands out most this season and hopes that since the team returns all but one of its core players, those losses will turn into wins.

In some of those losses, Day’s importance was felt equally as much when she was sitting on the bench rather than on the court. Throughout the season, foul trouble was an issue, but she said there’s nothing physical she could do to limit it.

“(Staying out of foul trouble)’s not really something you can work on,” Day said. “It’s just like you can’t do it. You have to know. You have to be smart, be a smarter player. Like OK, I know (the refs) might call me for this so let’s not put myself in a position to even call it.”

Hillsman said part of her foul trouble was caused by being the only forward on the court at a time. Going into next season, he said he’ll try to incorporate schemes that utilize more bigs to take the burden off Day.

Regardless, Day is entering the offseason with the mindset of trying to expand her game.

Said Hillsman: “It’s just about getting stronger, getting her physical conditioning in place and just being able to be a smarter player.”





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