FAIRFAX, Va. - The University of Dayton women's basketball team finished off the 2025 calendar year with a tough 74-59 loss on the road at George Mason University Wednesday afternoon.

The Flyers (7-6, 0-2 A-10) still look for their first Atlantic 10 victory while the Patriots (7-6, 2-0 A-10) showed why they were voted by some as preseason favorites.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Quarter: Dayton 17, George Mason 19

• Mason scored on its opening possession and took the initial lead after UD's opening shot rimmed out off the tipoff.  
• After a slow start offensively, the Flyers finally scored with 6:00 on the clock and a 6-2 deficit despite the cold start. Senior Shantavia Dawkins took the steal and pass from fellow senior Nayo Lear to the hoop for the transition bucket.
• Junior Ajok Madol followed up with a three to make it a 10-5 contest midway through the first.
• Sophomore Molly O'Riordan came off the bench and provided a spark, taking the ball to the basket for her first points of the game.
• Lear followed suit with back-to-back buckets to cut the margin to three with just over two to play.  
• With a minute on the clock, sophomore Olivia Leung drove and scored to tie it up at 17-17.

2nd Quarter: Dayton 24, George Mason 32

• Neither team was able to make a dent on the score in the opening few minutes of the second quarter as the defenses increased the physicality and fouls slowed the pace of the game down.
• The first points by either team came via an offensive board and putback by Mason with 4:48 to go in the quarter.
• By the media timeout, the Flyers trailed the Patriots by two, 21-19. Up to that point in the second, the teams combined for 2-of-21 shooting.
• The Patriots hit a big three with 2:40 to play in the half, which gave them a 26-19 advantage.
• Dayton managed to earn the bonus with just under two minutes on the clock as the Flyers were able to chip away at the free throw line.
• Freshman MG Talle battled for a rebound off a missed free throw and got the putback to make it a three-point game.
• Rebounds were 27-16 in favor of Dayton, but steals were 8-1 in favor of Mason.

3rd Quarter: Dayton 39, George Mason 55

• The hosts came out firing in the second half with a steal, basket, and a three next time down to make it a 13-point margin in the opening minute.
• Dayton was forced to call an early timeout at the 7:49 mark as Mason was on a 9-0 run to start the half.
• The timeout worked as Lear hit a pull-up jumper out of it to put UD on the board in the second half.
• Midway through the quarter, it was 43-30 in favor of the Patriots.
• Free throws became the name of the game for the rest of the quarter as the defenses made every shot contested.
• UD outshot Mason in the third, 50.0 percent to 42.1 percent.

4th Quarter: Dayton 59, George Mason 74

• Graduate student Nicole Stephens scored the first two baskets for the Flyers in the fourth, giving her nine for the contest.  
• O'Riordan hit a three on the top of the key to give her a new career-high 14 points.
• Mason's main approach however was to get to the free throw line to try and add to their advantage.
• Lear became the second Flyers in double figures with her 10^th point via the free throw line.
• Talle knocked down some free throws before hitting a three to narrow the gap to 10 points with just under five to go. She also reached the double-digit mark for the second time in her career.
• Dayton was fighting its way back within reach of Mason while the hosts suffered from a 2+ minute drought.
• At one point, the Patriots scored six straight points from the charity stripe while the Flyers had three from free throws at the same time.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
200^th – Nayo Lear recorded her 200^th career rebound while Nicole Stephens recorded her 200^th career assist.
17 – Dayton recorded a new season high with 17 offensive rebounds
16 – Molly O'Riordan set a new career high with 16 points on 7-of-10 shooting, and was just one rebound shy of her first double-double of the season with nine boards.
23-2 – Mason had 23 points off 24 UD turnovers while the Flyers had two points off turnovers.

UP NEXT
The Flyers return home to host Duquesne University Saturday, Jan. 3 at 1 p.m. at UD Arena.

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