DAYTON - The University of Dayton women's basketball team finishes up the three-game home stretch by hosting Fairfield University on Wednesday, Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. at UD Arena.
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton is looking for its first win of the season at 0-8 on the year, but has faced a difficult schedule including three SEC teams in the past four games.
Head coach
Tamika Williams-Jeter is in her first season in charge of her hometown Flyers, coming over after a year at Wittenberg. She has assistant coaching stops at Kansas, Kentucky, Penn State, and Ohio State.
As a team this year, the Flyers are averaging 60.9 points per game and giving up 70.5 points to opponents. Dayton is shooting 38.6 percent overall, 31.5 percent from three point range, and 72.4 percent from the free throw line. UD benefits from a +4.3 rebounding margin, but faces a -7.9 turnover deficit.
Dayton is led by redshirt junior
Destiny Bohanon with 14.3 points per game while freshman
Nayo Lear is chipping in 8.6 points and senior
Mariah Perez is adding 8.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per outing. Perez has three double-doubles already this season.
SCOUTING FAIRFIELD
Fairfield comes to Dayton for the first time ever with a 3-4 record on the season and 2-3 road mark. This will be the third straight away contest for the Stags, who earned an overtime victory at Atlantic 10 foe Fordham on Nov. 30.
Head coach Carly Thibault-Dudonis is in her first season as a head coach, the third in program history as a Division I school. Previously, she had served on current UMass head coach Tory Verdi's staff at Eastern Michigan.
As a team, the Stags are scoring 65.1 points each outing and giving up 67.3 points to opposing squads. Fairfield is averaging 40.9 percent from the floor, 35.1 percent from behind the arc, and 63.6 percent from the charity stripe. The Stags are committing fewer turnovers, but are being out-rebounded on average.
Leading the way is Callie Cavanaugh, who ranks in the top 30 in the nation in scoring at 19.9 points per game to go with 4.7 rebounds. Izabela Nicoletti Leite is adding 12.4 points per game while Janelle Brown is contributing 11.0 points and 5.9 boards each outing.
LAST TIME OUT
Dayton battled Florida at home Sunday to a 65-69 defeat after battling back from a double-digit deficit. Perez had a career night with 22 points and 13 rebounds, but the Gators shot 43.6 percent from the field.
Fairfield also suffered a late loss on the road at Binghamton on Saturday, 72-77. The Stags outscored the Bearcats 47-38 in the second half, but it was not enough for the road win. Cavanaugh and Nicoletti Leite had 25 and 24 points respectively.
SERIES HISTORY
Dayton and Fairfield are meeting for the first time in program history.
STATISTICAL RANKINGS
As a team, Dayton ranks 57th in the country in defensive rebounds per game. Individually,
Destiny Bohanon ranks ninth in three point field goal percentage and 25th in minutes played per game.
DOUBLING-UP
Senior
Mariah Perez already has three double-doubles this season, giving her four for her career. She recorded double-digit points and rebounds in games against Northern Kentucky, Kentucky, and Florida already this season. On top of that, she was one point shy of another against Ohio with nine points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will head back out on the road to take on the University of Toledo on Sunday, Dec. 11 at 2 p.m. at Savage Arena.
