DAYTON - The University of Dayton women's basketball team will open up the 2023-24 season on Wednesday, Nov. 8 at No. 2 Connecticut. Tipoff is at 7 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, Conn.

SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton is coming off an up-and-down season in which the Flyers ended their postseason streak, going 7-21 overall and 5-10 in Atlantic 10 play. The Flyers had just as many wins at home as on the road with three each. UD earned the No. 12 seed in the A-10 Championship Tournament and advanced to the second round before their season ended to No. 5 seed Richmond.

Williams-Jeter is in her second 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 last year, the Flyers averaged 65.2 points per game and gave up 70.1 points to opponents. Dayton shot 40.7 percent overall, 33.9 percent from three point range, and 72.3 percent from the free throw line. UD was one of the top rebounding teams in the league with a +4.5 margin.

Dayton returns a pair of double-double threats in graduate student Mariah Perez with 12.3 points and 9.5 rebounds per game, and junior Arianna Smith with 10.3 points and 8.8 boards each effort. Redshirt senior Destiny Bohanon was the team MVP last season and had a team-high 12.4 points per game.

SCOUTING UCONN
UConn is coming off the 2022-2023 season in which it went 31-6 overall and 15-2 in Big East play. The Huskies were 15-2 at home and ended the regular season with a six game winning streak while winning the Big East tournament but ended the campaign with a loss to No. 12 Ohio State in the Women's Basketball National Championship tournament.

Head coach Geno Auriemma is returning for his 39th season at UConn. His returning squad features 12 returning players including seven upperclassmen and bringing in three incoming freshman. Six of those had over 10+ starts last season.

As a team, UConn averaged 75.9 points per game last season while giving up 58.8 points to opposing squads. The Huskies shot 49.4% from the field, 35.7% from behind the arc, and 74.4% from the charity stripe. UConn outlasted opponents with 41.1 rebounds and 18.8 assists per game, but committed more turnovers at 16.4 per contest.

The top returner for the Huskies after missing all of last season from a torn ACL is 2023 Preseason AP All-American and redshirt junior guard Paige Bueckers who achieved honors of NCAA Final Four All-Tournament Team and 2022 NCAA Tournament Bridgeport Region Most Outstanding Player in 2022. Also returning is 2023 BIG EAST Most Improved Player and senior forward Aaliyah Edwards, who averaged team highs 16.6 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game last season.

SERIES HISTORY
The Huskies have won all four meetings in series history that started in 2011. Dayton and UConn last faced off on Nov. 26, 2019 with the host Flyers falling to the Huskies 75-37 at UD Arena.

LAST TIME OUT
Dayton ended the 2022-23 season in the Atlantic 10 Championship Second Round with a defeat to No. 5 seed Richmond, 71-60. That was coming off Coach Williams-Jeter's first postseason victory over VCU in the opening round.

UConn ended its season in the NCAA Tournament in a loss to No. 12 seed Ohio State in the Sweet Sixteen. The Huskies were unable to overcome 25 turnovers in the effort.

DOUBLING-UP
Graduate student Mariah Perez recorded 12 double-doubles last season, giving her 13 for her career. She recorded double-digit points and rebounds in games against Northern Kentucky, Kentucky, Florida, Fairfield, Davidson, Duquesne, Loyola, Saint Louis, Saint Joseph's, VCU (2x), and La Salle last year. On top of that, she was one point shy of three more against Ohio, Fordham, and St. Bonaventure. That was the most for a Flyer player since JaVonna Layfield had 19 in 2017-18.

FLYERS PICKED NINTH IN PRESEASON POLL
Dayton was picked to finish ninth in the 2023-24 Atlantic 10 preseason poll, two spots up from where the Flyers finished last season. UD was chosen ahead of VCU, their 2023 A-10 Tournament opponent, last year's regular season champion UMass, La Salle, and Fordham. Rhode Island was tabbed as the A-10 preseason favorite ahead of Saint Joseph's, the 2023 A-10 Tournament Champion Saint Louis, and Richmond.

PEREZ NAMED THIRD TEAM PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE
Graduate student Mariah Perez was selected to the All-Atlantic 10 Preseason Third Team ahead of the upcoming campaign. The New Jersey native is coming off a career season in which she was named the team's Most Improved Player. She started all 27 games and had career highs with 11.9 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.

RESETTING THE COACHING STAFF
The Dayton women's basketball program shifted things around on its coaching staff with new faces and new roles.

Daryl Hudson was named a new assistant coach in May, coming over from the University of Omaha where he spent the last three seasons on the staff. There he helped lead the Mavericks to the Summit League Championship Game twice. Returning to the staff is Trendale Perkins and Julie Bolden who took on new titles. Perkins will now serve as Assistant Coach and Video Coordinator while Bolden is now Assistant Coach and Director of Recruiting & Creativity.

WILLIAMS-JETER EARNS FIRST A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT VICTORY
Dayton faced VCU in the first round of the 2023 A-10 Championship Tournament in a match-up of the No. 12 seeded Flyers battled No. 13 seeded Rams. Dayton was able to power its way to a 67-61 victory, earning Coach Williams-Jeter's first postseason victory in charge of the Flyers.

RETURN OF THE MEEK
On Wednesday, Nov. 8 in the season opener, Dayton will travel to Hartford, Conn. to take on the No. 2 UConn Huskies as Coach Williams-Jeter returns to face her alma mater and former coach Geno Auriemma. Coach Williams-Jeter played at UConn from 1998-2002 where she won two national championships (2000 and 2002) and earned National Freshmen of the Year honors. She set a NCAA record for career field goal percentage at 70.3, which still holds to this day. Coach Meek was just as successful off the court serving as the President of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee.

WE'VE GOT AN AUDIENCE
On Feb. 8, 2023, the Flyers played in front of 11,635 fans at UD Arena while hosting Saint Louis. The record-breaking 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. Dayton will host VCU this season for School Day on Jan. 24

QUITE THE CROWD
Along with setting the single-game attendance record in program history last season, Dayton also led the Atlantic 10 in average home attendance. The Flyers averaged 2,545 fans per game, which ranked top 60 in the nation.

FLYERS IN REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE PLAY
Dayton has won 145 of its last 183 regular season Atlantic 10 games (.803), 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.

THREE POINTS OF EXCELLENCE
Dayton has hit at least one three-point shot in 680 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.

UP NEXT
The Flyers return to Dayton to host Lindenwood Sunday, Nov. 12 at 12 p.m. at UD Arena in the home opener.

FOLLOW #UDWBB ON SOCIAL
Follow the Flyers on X @DaytonWBB; on Instagram DaytonWBB; and on Facebook at Dayton Women's Basketball.