DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's basketball team defeated Saint Louis 58-50 in the semifinal of the 2020 Atlantic Women's Basketball Championship at UD Arena Saturday.

No. 1 seeded Dayton improves to 24-8 overall with the win and the No. 4 seeded Billikens drop to 19-13 overall to finish the season.
 
KEY MOMENT
1^st Quarter – Dayton scored 23 points in the first quarter to jump out to a 23-10 lead.
 
GAME BREAKDOWN
1^st Quarter: Dayton 23, Saint Louis 10

• Saint Louis struck first with a trey by Ciaja Harbison with 9:22 on the clock
• Senior Jordan Wilmoth answered with a layup off the glass on assist from senior Jayla Scaife.
• Scaife hit a three to tie it 6-all with 6:18 left to play.
• Sophomore Kyla Whitehead hit another one on UD's next possession to take its first lead of the game 9-6 at the 5:31 mark.
• The Flyers used a 9-0 run in the final 1:47 of the quarter, including Scaife hitting a follow-up layup at the buzzer, to jump to a 23-10 lead.
• Dayton shot 50 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent (4-of-7) from three-point range. Six different Flyers scored in the first quarter.

2^nd Quarter: Dayton 35, Saint Louis 24

• Dayton started the quarter with a 5-0 run to extend the lead. The Flyers led by as many as 20 after a Scaife three to push the lead to 33-13.
• SLU knocked a three at 7:39 to end the 14-0 Flyer run, and another at the 5:11 mark to cut the UD lead to 33-16.
• Dayton had a scoring drought lasting more than five minutes, missing six consecutive shots until Whitehead hit a layup at 1:10 on a fastbreak to give the Flyers a 35-24 lead at the half.
• At the half, the Flyers were shooting 60 percent from three-point range. Scaife led all scorers with 14 points, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc.

3^rd Quarter: Dayton 44, Saint Louis 33

• After a hot start in the first half for UD, each team scored just nine points in the third quarter.
• SLU converted just 1-of-9 field goals to start the third quarter.
• Senior Jenna Giacone knocked down a three at the 2:14 mark of the third quarter to bring the Flyer crowd to its feet. Whitehead started the series by diving over press row to save a long rebound. Scaife found Giacone in the opposite corner to give UD a 44-31 lead and forcing a Billikens timeout.

4^th Quarter: Dayton 58, Saint Louis 50

• An Araion Bradshaw steal and fastbreak layup put the Flyers up 48-35 with 8:37 to play in the quarter.
• A Saint Louis layup on an offensive rebound cut the UD lead to single digits, 50-42 at the 5:23 mark, forcing the Flyers to call a timeout.
• The Flyers forced a shot clock violation with 4:26 left in the fourth quarter, and Erin Whalen scored – after an offensive rebound – for UD on the next time down the floor to give UD a 52-44 lead.
• Scaife hit 2-of-3 free throws and on UD's next offensive possession drained a three to give the Flyers a 57-46 lead with 2:36 left to play.
• Wilmoth blocked a shot with 1:25 to play in the game and the Flyers secured a defensive rebound.
• The Flyers went without a field goal for the last 2:36.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
 
25 – Jayla Scaife had a game-high 25 points. She shot 8-of-19, including 4-of-5 from behind the arc.
7 and 10 – Kyla Whitehead totaled seven points and 10 rebounds.
8 – The Flyers knocked down eight three-pointers and shot 42.1 percent.
8 – Each team registered eight blocks. Julia Chandler blocked four shots to lead the Flyers.

 
KEY STAT
8-of-11 – The Flyers converted eight free throws while the Billikens were just 1-of-6 from the free throw line.
 
UP NEXT

• The Flyers will play in the championship game vs. the winner of the VCU-Fordham semifinal. The A-10 Championship final will be Sunday, March 8 at noon at UD Arena. The game will nationally-broadcast on ESPNU.