Box Score WILMINGTON, Del.  – The University of Dayton women's basketball team suffered a heartbreaking 62-56 loss to the University of Massachusetts in the Atlantic 10 Championship Sunday afternoon.

The Flyers (25-5) were upset in their A-10 sweep attempt while the Minutewomen (26-6) take home the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore Makira Cook earned All-Tournament team honors.

KEY MOMENT
1^st quarter – UMass outscored Dayton 20-11 in the first quarter and the Flyers were never able to fully recover.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1^st Quarter: Dayton 11, UMass 20

• Dayton and UMass traded buckets to start the game, but the Minutewomen took the early lead thanks to a pair of free throws, 5-2, in the opening two minutes.
• By the media break, the Flyers trailed by nine, 13-4, after an 8-0 run by the Minutewomen as UD called a timeout.
• Dayton's drought went over 4:00 as UMass pulled ahead by 11.
• UMass shot 57 percent in the opening quarter while UD shot 30 percent.

2^nd Quarter: Dayton 36, UMass 28

• The Flyers were able to put a couple of good possessions together early on the second and narrowed the gap to just five points, 24-19.
• A trio of threes in the second pulled Dayton even closer as it was 28-24 midway through the second.
• UMass was forced to call a timeout with 2:31 to play as Dayton made it a two-point game, 30-28 and a 2:02 Minutewomen drought.
• Dayton then went cold once again and trailed by nine at the half as UMass was on a 7-0 run.
• Sophomore Makira Cook had a team high seven points with graduate student Erin Whalen adding five.
• The Minutewomen shot 58 percent in the first half while the Flyers still shot 45 percent.

3^rd Quarter: Dayton 39, UMass 52

• The Flyers and Minutewomen battled over the first three minutes of the second half with both teams getting just one bucket each.
• UMass was held without a field goal for over four minutes thanks to a stingy UD defense.
• At the media timeout, the Flyers faced a 13-point deficit.
• UD wen the final 2:56 without a field goal and were down 13 with 10 minutes to play.

4^th Quarter: Dayton 56, UMass 62

• UD was the only team to strike in the opening two minutes with a 5-0 run to make it a single digit contest.
• Dayton called a timeout with 6:20 to play and down 10 to regroup.
• The Flyers were trying to cut into the margin, while the Minutewomen were eating up the clock. Both teams were stepping it up defensively.
• At the 3:41 mark, senior Kyla Whitehead got a layup followed by a steal and a corner three from grad student Jenna Giacone to gain momentum. UD cut it to just seven points.
• The Flyers kept their run going to 8-0 over 2:38 and were down just four, 58-54.
• In the end, Dayton ran out of time to complete the comeback.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
18 – Makira Cook had a team-high 18 points for the Flyers.
13 – Erin Whalen chipped in 13 points and five rebounds.
46.2% - UMass shot 46.2 percent in the game to Dayton's 38.8 percent.
30 – The Flyers gave up 30 points in the paint.

KEY STAT
55.6% - Dayton allowed UMass to shoot 55.6 percent in the first half.

UP NEXT
Dayton finished up the A-10 conference tournament and will wait for their postseason fate until NCAA Selection Sunday at 8 p.m. on March 13.