DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's basketball team defeated VCU 52-48 in the final of the 2020 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship at UD Arena Sunday.

No. 1 seeded Dayton improves to 25-8 overall with the win and the No. 2 seeded Rams drop to 20-12 overall to finish the season. Dayton earned the Atlantic 10's automatic berth to the NCAA Women's Basketball Championship.

Dayton's Jayla Scaife was named All-Tournament Team and Tournament MVP while Kyla Whitehead earned All-Tournament honors as well.

KEY MOMENT
4^th quarter - Senior Jayla Scaife knocked down a free throw to build Flyer lead to four points, 52-48, and then blocked VCU's final shot attempt to seal the win.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1^st Quarter: Dayton 15, VCU 11

• Dayton won the tip off but VCU struck first in the opening minute.
• After UD started 0-for-3 from the field, redshirt junior Erin Whalen broke the minor drought with a three-point shot with 8:27 on the clock.
• The Flyers then went on a 7-0 run to make the score 7-5 heading into the first timeout.
• After the timeout, senior Shakeela Fowler found an opening for a free layup at 4:03 giving the Flyers a 9-7 lead.
• Dayton had four assists in the first quarter in comparison to VCU's zero.

2^nd Quarter: Dayton 25, VCU 25

• VCU started the quarter on a 7-0 run to tie it up at 15.
• Redshirt senior Julia Chandler broke the Flyers' drought after a pick and roll for a free layup at 8:39.
• At the media timeout, VCU held a three-point advantage 22-19.
• After the timeout, Dayton forced VCU into two shot clock violations.
• Scaife led UD with eight points and Fowler and senior Jenna Giacone led the Flyers with four rebounds.
• VCU forced four blocks in the half.

3^rd Quarter: Dayton 39, VCU 36

• Dayton's defense stepped up, forcing VCU to back-to-back last second (one second left on the shot clock) missed shots.
• Giacone's dribble drive tied the game and sophomore Kyla Whitehead nailed a three with 1:20 left in the quarter for the lead, 37-34.
• Dayton's bench is outscored VCU's 14-7 in the third quarter.
• Whitehead led the Flyers with nine points and seven rebounds up to this point.

4^th Quarter: Dayton 52, VCU 48

• Dayton struck first with a basket from Fowler and forced a shot clock violation.
• The Flyers then went on a 6-2 run and forced a VCU timeout with 7:07 up 45-38.
• Off the break VCU went on 6-0 run to bring the game to one point, 45-44.
• Both teams hit a scoring drought more than two minutes.
• The Flyers took a timeout with 52 seconds after continuing their previous drought to four minutes.
• Scaife knocks down two free throws to extend Dayton's lead to three, 49-46 with 38.5 seconds left in the game
• VCU took a timeout with Dayton up 51-48 with 23.2 seconds left in the game.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
13 - Kyla Whitehead  and Jayla Skaife both had 13 points for Dayton.
10 - Kyla Whitehead finished with a game high 10 rebounds giving her three double-doubles on the season.
8 - Eight Flyers had 2 or more rebounds.

KEY STATS
16 - Dayton's bench outscored that of VCU 16-7
9 - Dayton had 9 assists compared to VCU's 4
21:22 - Time spent in the lead for Dayton
11 - There was 11 lead changes over the course of the game.

All-Championship Team
Danielle Hammond- VCU
Taya Robinson-VCU
Bre Cavanaugh -Fordham
Jayla Scaife- Dayton
Kyla Whitehead -Dayton
Most Outstanding Player- Jayla Scaife

UP NEXT
The Flyers will await seeding for the NCAA Women's tournament after winning an automatic bid through winning the Atlatntic 10 tournament. They will be seeded on Monday March 16th.