DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's basketball team will return to the conference portion of the schedule on Saturday at 2 p.m. when the Flyers host Massachusetts at UD Arena.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
Dayton finishes the non-conference season with a 6-7 record overall and an 0-1 Atlantic 10 mark. The Flyers' lone confernce loss came at home to La Salle on Dec. 4, 54-51. Head coach Shauna Green is in her first season in charge and has guided Dayton to three wins in its last four games.

As a team, Dayton is shooting 39.4% overall, 32.8% from three-point range, and 68.4% from the free throw line. UD is outscoring opponents  by +2.2 and has a +1.3 rebounding margin.

The Flyers are led by junior Jenna Burdette, who is averaging 12.7 points and 3.9 assists per game, and senior Saicha Grant-Allen, who is adding 9.4 points and 7.0 rebounds per game. Fellow senior Kelley Austria is also averaging double-digits with 10.5 points each contest.

SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts ends the non-conference season with a 6-8 record overall, an 0-6 road mark, and an 0-1 record in Atlantic 10 play. The Minutewomen are led by first year head coach Tory Verdi, who has guided UMass to wins over Holy Cross, Bryant, Merrimack, Central Connecticut, Montana, and North Dakota State. UMass was picked to finish last in the A-10 preseason poll.

The Minutewomen are scoring 58.7 points per game and giving up 61.1 to opposing teams. UMass is shooting 38% from the field, 32.5% from three-point range, and 66.9% from the free throw line. The Minutewomen have to overcome a -0.4 rebounding margin but have a +0.1 turnover margin.

UMass is led by freshman Hailey Leidel's 16.8 points each game while junior Maggie Mulligan, freshman Ryan Holder, and redshirt junior Alyssa Lawrence are all averaging double figures as well. Mulligan leads the Minutewomen with 12.4 rebounds per contest, and has 29 blocks and 22 steals defensively.

LAST TIME OUT
Dayton fought to the wire, but late free throws made the loss to Virginia a 10-point margin with  the Flyers falling to the Cavaliers Thursday, 66-56. UD out-rebounded UVa, but turned the ball over 22 times.

UMass finished the FIU Holiday Classic with a 65-47 loss to Drexel. The Minutewomen led early on, but only scored 20 points in the second half while Drexel scored 18 in the third quarter alone. Leidel led UMass with 19 points.

THE SERIES
The Flyers and Minutewomen will square off for the 24th time in series history. Dayton has won 12 of the meetings compared to UMass' 11 wins. UD had won eight in a row before last season's loss on Feb. 17 in Amherst, 76-69.

ALL-TOURNAMENT SQUAD
Dayton had a pair of players named to the All-Tournament team at the Florida Sunshine Classic. Junior guard Jenna Burdette and senior center Saicha Grant-Allen received the honors. Grant-Allen also was named All-Tournament team at the Cavalier Classic, joined by junior JaVonna Layfield.

GRANT-ALLEN EARNS A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior center Saicha Grant-Allen was named A-10 Player of the Week on Dec. 26 after averaging a double-double with 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two-win stretch at the Florida Sunshine Classic. The Ontario native highlighted the week with a 17-point, 16-rebound performance against ODU.

CAREER NIGHT
In Dayton's win over Wisconsin on Nov. 16, there were a number of career performances for the Flyers:
Jenna Burdette - 23 points, 8 field goals
Alex Harris - 13 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 1 assist, 5 field goals attempted
JaVonna Layfield - 14 points, 6 field goals, 2 three-pointers
Jordan Wilmoth - 2 steals
Jayla Scaife - 15 points, 5 field goals, 3 three-pointers, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 block

PRESEASON POLL
Dayton was picked to finish in a tie for second place in the Atlantic 10 Preseason poll, trailing only conference favorites Saint Louis. The Flyers tied with Duquesne and were picked ahead of George Washington, VCU, and Fordham.

ALREADY ALL-CONFERENCE
Junior guard Jenna Burdette was named Preseason First Team All-Conference after averaging 11.5 points and 4.8 assists per game last season. Senior guard Kelley Austria earned Second Team All-Conference and All-Defensive team honors, following an injury-shortened season in which she scored 10.4 points per game and recorded 2.6 steals per game. Fellow senior center Saicha Grant-Allen rounded out the accolades, earning Third Team All-Conference honors. The Ontario native scored 11.1 points each contest and grabbed 8.9 boards per game.

COMING OFF 2015-16
Dayton (14-15, 7-9 A-10) finished the 2015-16 season with its ninth consecutive postseason appearance by making a trip to the WNIT. The Flyers fell to Western Kentucky, ending the year with the first losing season since 2006-07. Head coach Shauna Green is in her first season in charge of the program.

FOLLOW THE FLYERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow the official Dayton women's basketball social media outlets by liking Facebook.com/DaytonWBB, on Twitter by following @DaytonWBB and DaytonWeAreOne on Instagram. Hashtags for Flyer women's basketball include #UDWBB, OneWay and GoFlyers.

FLYERS IN REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE PLAY
Dayton has won 61 of its last 77 regular season Atlantic 10 games (.803), a streak that dates back to a 97-46 win over Rhode Island on Jan. 7, 2012, and includes a perfect 14-0 mark in conference play during the 2012-13 season.

WE'LL TAKE THE FREE ONES
As a team, the Flyers have found much success from the free throw line, shooting the top four single season percentages in the last five seasons, including a school record .764 in 2013-14.
1.   .764.................(519-679) - 2013-14
2    .745    (575-772) - 2014-15
3.    .737    (390-529) - 2011-12
4.    .736    (387-526) - 2015-16
4.    .736    (398-541) - 2001-02

TAMING THE TIGERS
Dayton defeated Princeton at Jadwin Gymnasium in Princeton, N.J. on Nov. 19, handing the Tigers just their third loss at home over the past three seasons.

FACING THE BEST
The Flyers played defending national champions and second-ranked Connecticut on Nov. 22 in Storrs, Conn. and suffered a loss to the Huskies, who won their 79th straight game. UD will play six teams this season that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year, all on the road or at neutral sites. The Flyers have faced the 30th toughest strength of schedule in Division I this season.

70'S THE MAGIC NUMBER
Since the 2009-10 season, Dayton is 125-14 (.903) when scoring 70 or more points, including 10-2 in 2015-16. During the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the Flyers only lost one game per season when scoring at least 70 points, and dropped only two games in 2009-10 when reaching that mark.
2016-17    4-1
2015-16    10-2
2014-15    24-2
2013-14    19-4
2012-13    21-1
2011-12    13-1
2010-11    15-1
2009-10    19-2
TOTAL    125-14

THREE POINTS OF EXCELLENCE
Dayton has hit at least one three-point shot in 488 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 2, 2001, the longest streak in the Atlantic 10 Conference and one of the top streaks in the nation. The Flyers made a program-record 15 three-point field goals against Buffalo in the Connecticut World Vision Classic on Nov. 25, 2011. Dayton tied the record with 15 vs. Wright State on Nov. 28, 2012.

SPEAKING OF THREES...
The Flyers hit 12 three-pointers against Texas A&M on Dec. 20 in Winter Park, Fla. en route to a 74-57 victory over the Aggies. That total was the most ever given up by Texas A&M in program history. The previous high of 11 was held by Kansas State and TCU.

WE'VE GOT AN AUDIENCE
On Dec. 9 this season, the Flyers played in front of 9,007 fans at UD Arena while hosting Toledo. The season-best crowd was due to the overwhelming success of UD's annual School Day game, a chance for local school-aged children to take a field trip with the Flyers. With a home attendance average of 3,532, Dayton ranks 49th out of 349 DI programs.

ATLANTIC 10 FORMAT
Despite its name, the Atlantic 10 conference consists of 14 member schools competing under one division in women's basketball. Each team will play a 16-game conference slate this season, including three home-and-away series. Dayton will play two games against Duquesne, George Washington and Saint Louis and one against the remaining field during league action.

THE NEW AND IMPROVED 2017 ATLANTIC 10 CHAMPIONSHIP
The 2017 A-10 Championship will feature a new, enhanced format, with six first-round games being played on campus sites before heading to Richmond, Friday through Sunday, for the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship final games. The top two championship seeds will receive a bye, with the remainder of the field facing off in games hosted by seeds 3-8 for the first round. The first round will take place on the Saturday and Sunday prior to the weekend of the quarterfinals, semifinals and final. In 2017 the first round will be Feb. 25-26 with the three final rounds being played March 3-5.