Bria Day didn’t learn she was starting on Sunday until assistant coach Sasha Palmer told her about 10 minutes before tipoff.

With her sister Briana nursing an injured right foot she suffered in the team’s prior game against Wake Forest, Bria made her first career start for the Orange against Boston College.

Briana Day returned to the starting lineup for No. 23 SU (14-5, 4-2 Atlantic Coast) on Thursday night against Pittsburgh and will most likely start on Sunday when Syracuse hosts North Carolina State (12-7, 3-3) at 3 p.m. Still, Bria Day proved in her 11-rebound performance against the Eagles she’s capable of competing with ACC post players.

“I want to give Bria minutes regardless of foul trouble or not, because I think it’s important just to keep players’ minutes down,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “Bria is doing a good job of making an argument of getting more minutes and being able to stay on the court and help us.”

Despite Hillsman saying Bria Day — who made both of her shots in eight minutes of play in SU’s win over Pittsburgh on Thursday — has made a case for more minutes, she’s only averaged 11.1 per game this season. She averages just a point per game while her sister averages 10 points and 10 rebounds, but Bria Day said her scoring will come.

With Briana Day struggling with foul trouble recently — she fouled out in just 28 minutes against Wake Forest and picked up four fouls against both Notre Dame and Virginia — Hillsman has occasionally used 6-foot forward Taylor Ford at center. It’s a role she’s thrived in and defenses have to account for Ford’s 3-point shooting ability that Bria Day doesn’t possess.

But instead of preparing to fill in for her sister in the paint when she gets in foul trouble, Bria Day is focused on her own struggles in that area.

“That’s been the talk all year,” Bria Day said. “I think I’ve been getting into a lot of foul trouble. Now I realize I have to just be smart because we need to have someone who can come in and give Briana a break.”

That break may come Sunday against a more guard-oriented team like N.C. State, since the Wolfpack doesn’t have a rotation player taller than 6 feet, 1 inch. And if the 6-foot-4 Briana Day does find herself on the bench one way or another, she’s confident her sister and Ford can fill in just fine.

“I definitely have a lot of responsibility, but I don’t think it’s too much to handle because we have great other players to step in as well,” Briana Day said in November. “I think we all help each other out as far as us not being mature in the position, but I think we’re going to be pretty good.”

And though Hillsman admitted Briana Day probably could’ve played against Wake Forest, he and the team are confident in the options it has.

Ford has showed she can compensate for the starter’s absence in spurts and now it’s another reserve’s turn to show the same.

“We need to get Briana’s minutes down, and the more Bria can step up and help us in that position, the better team we’re going to become,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “Any time she can give us that type of productivity on the floor, it’s a big plus for us.”

Published on January 23, 2015 at 2:34 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu