DAYTON - The 2017 Atlantic 10 regular season co-champion University of Dayton women's basketball team will begin its run at the Atlantic 10 Tournament this Friday at 11 a.m. at the Richmond Coliseum in Virginia.

The No. 1 seeded Flyers will take on the No. 8 seeded VCU Rams in the A-10 Quarterfinals. The game will be televised live on ASN.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
Dayton enters the Atlantic 10 Tournament as the No. 1 seed with a 13-3 conference record during the regular season and 19-9 mark overall. The Flyers are 3-2 in neutral site games this year and coming off a big overtime win in the season finale. Head coach Shauna Green won her first conference championship in her first season at the helm of the Flyers.

As a team, Dayton is outscoring opponents by a +5.9 margin with a +5.0 rebounding margin, and more assists per game. The Flyers are shooting 38.6 percent from the floor, 33.5 percent from three point range, and 68.7 percent from the free throw line.

The Flyers are led by redshirt senior Kelley Austria, who is averaging 12.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game. Junior Jenna Burdette returns from a five-game hiatus due to injury and is chipping in 12.0 points and 4.7 assists each contest. Senior Saicha Grant-Allen contributes on both ends of the floor with 9.9 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.

SCOUTING VCU
VCU finished the regular season with a 15-14 record overall and 8-8 A-10 mark, before winning its first round game against Richmond to advance to the quarterfinals. Head coach Beth O'Boyle is in her third season in charge of the Rams.

Overall, VCU is scoring 63.3 points per game while giving up 63.5 to opponents. The Rams are shooting 38.7 percent from the field, 32.3 percent from behind the arc, and 67 percent from the charity stripe. VCU benefits from a +3.0 rebounding margin and +1.8 turnover margin.

Senior Keira Robinson leads the team with 11.2 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.1 steals per game. Junior Curteeona Brelove has a team-high 6.6 boards each contest to go with 8.3 points.

LAST TIME OUT
Dayton won the A-10 regular season title with a rollercoaster 68-62 overtime victory against Saint Louis. On Senior Night at UD Arena, the Flyers outscored the Billikens 12-6 in the extra period, clinching the championship.

VCU won its first round contest in the A-10 Tournament at home against No. 9 seed Richmond on Sunday, 72-64. The Rams trailed the Spiders early on, but Keira Robinson led the rally with 16 points and six rebounds.

THE SERIES
The Flyers and Rams have met six times previously with Dayton winning five of those contests. Earlier this season, UD defeated VCU on the road, 68-48, in Richmond. The lone loss by the Flyers came last year on Jan. 13 in Dayton, 74-72.

FLYERS WIN THIRD A-10 TITLE
Dayton won its third A-10 regular season title by clinching a share with George Washington this season. The Flyers had previously won championships in 2013 and 2014. Because of the tie-breaker format, Dayton enters the A-10 Tournament as the top seed.

AUSTRIA NAMED DEFENSIVE POY
The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its annual women's basketball awards and named Dayton's Kelley Austria the Defensive Player of the Year. The Beavercreek, Ohio, native led the Flyers with 47 steals and was often assigned to the opposing team's best offensive threat.

A-10 HONORS
Along with Austria's Defensive POY award, she was also named All-Conference Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Joining her was senior Saicha Grant-Allen, who was also Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Junior Jenna Burdette was the third Flyer on the All-Conference Second Team while freshman Jayla Scaife was named to the All-Rookie Team.

WHAT A STRETCH
From Dec. 29, 2016 to Feb. 12, 2017, the Flyers won 11 straight games, which was the longest winning streak since March 9, 2013, when Dayton won 15 in a row during a 28-3 season.

GRANT-ALLEN REWRITES RECORD BOOKS
Senior Saicha Grant-Allen set a new school record on Feb. 1 at Davidson with her 264th career offensive rebound. She moved into first all-time in Dayton history, passing Cyndi Stull (1999-2004). Grant-Allen leads the A-10 in that category this season.

CANNATELLI GOES FOR 7
During the same game and on the same play that Grant-Allen tied the record for offensive rebounds, sophomore Lauren Cannatelli tied the record for most three pointers in a game by hitting her seventh of the contest. She finished the game with a career high 27 points and went 7-for-11 from deep. She tied the record last achieved by teammate and current Flyer Christy Macioce on Feb. 17, 2016 against Massachusetts.

AUSTRIA SCORES 1,000TH POINT
Dayton redshirt senior Kelley Austria joined the 1,000 point club against Duquesne on Jan. 10, 2017 after her 18-point performance in the victory. She is the 24th Flyer in program history to reach that mark as she moved into the Top 25 all-time in scoring at Dayton. Austria achieved that mark in just 105 career games.

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 was also 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.

NEVER BEFORE SEEN
Dayton played a number of opponents this season the Flyers had not faced yet in program history. UD took on for the first time this season Georgia Tech, Creighton, Morgan State, Texas A&M, Liberty, and Virginia.

SCAIFE NAMED A-10 CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Dayton freshman Jayla Scaife was named Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 21 after averaging 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in her first two collegiate games. The Muncie, Ind. native capped off the week with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime win at Princeton.

GREEN GETS FIRST WIN AS DAYTON HEAD COACH
On Nov. 16, 2016, head coach Shauna Green earned her first Division I victory at the helm of the Flyers with an 83-64 win over Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. It was her 30th career win as a head coach after two previous years in charge of Loras College.

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

DAYTON IN THE A-10 TOURNAMENT
Historically, the Flyers are 21-20 overall in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, dating back to 1996. Dayton has one tournament title, in 2012, having made four trips previously to the finals. The Flyers have a 4-5 record in the semifinals and a .512 winning percentage overall in the event. Against VCU in the A-10 Tournament, Dayton has a 1-0 advantage.

JUST FLYERS PLEASE
When referring to the University of Dayton women's basketball team (or any other Dayton women's athletic team), we ask that you refer to us simply as "Flyers." Not "Lady Flyers".

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.

NEW LEADER
Shauna Green was hired as the new Dayton women's basketball head coach on Sept. 11, 2016. She takes over for former head coach Jim Jabir, who was at the helm of the Flyers for 13 seasons. Green served as an assistant on Coach Jabir's staff at Dayton from 2012-15. In 2015-16, Green was an assistant on Joe McKeown's staff at Northwestern. She is in her third season as a collegiate head coach after having previously led Loras College.

AT THE BUZZER
Dayton earned a late victory at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 2017 with a game-winning three-pointer by senior Christy Macioce with eight seconds on the clock to defeat the Bonnies 62-60. It was the first home Atlantic 10 loss for SBU since Feb. 25, 2015, spanning nine games.

FLYERS IN REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE PLAY
Dayton has won 74 of its last 92 regular season Atlantic 10 games (.810), 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.

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 113th toughest strength of schedule in Division I this season.

70'S THE MAGIC NUMBER
Since the 2009-10 season, Dayton is 129-14 (.901) 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    8-1
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    129-14

THREE POINTS OF EXCELLENCE
Dayton has hit at least one three-point shot in 503 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 2,674, Dayton ranks 44th 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.

NATIONAL TEAM EXPERIENCE
Three Flyers have experience playing for their respective national teams.
• Sophomore Maddy Dennis was a member of the 2015 U-19 Australian National Team that won a bronze medal at the 2015 U-19 FIBA World Championship. She was also a member of the 2013 and 2014 U-17 Australian National Team.
• Senior Saicha Grant-Allen most recently was a member of Canada's Senior B Women's Basketball National Team that claimed the 36th Annual William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan, during the summer of 2014.
• Senior Andrijana Cvitkovic played for the Croatian U18 National Team during the summer of 2012.

POSTSEASON EXPECTATION
The Flyers have made nine consecutive postseason appearances between the NCAA Division I Tournament and the Women's National Invitational Tournament. Here are the past nine campaigns
Year    Record    Postseason
2015-16    14-15    WNIT - 1st Round
2014-15    27-6    NCAA Tournament - Elite Eight
2013-14    23-8    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2012-13    28-3    NCAA Tournament - 2nd Round
2011-12    23-7    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2010-11    21-12    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2009-10    25-8    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2008-09    21-14    WNIT - 2nd Round
2007-08    25-9    WNIT - 1st Round