HENRICO, Va. - The University of Dayton women's basketball team battled to the end in a tough loss to Davidson College Friday night in Henrico, Va., 56-36.
The No. 6 seeded Flyers (18-13) were just overpowered by the No. 3 seed Wildcats (19-12) who move on to the A-10 Semifinals Saturday.
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Quarter: Dayton 2, Davidson 16
- Both teams got off to a slow start offensively as they had to work into the flow of the game.
- Davidson was the first to score with an and-one at the 7:58 mark.
- Dayton got its first points with a nice move by freshman Molly O'Riordan for a pull-up jumper with 5:54 on the clock.
- At the media timeout, the Flyers trailed 7-2 during a two-plus minute drought.
- The skid continued to over five minutes as the Wildcats pulled ahead 14-2 going into the final minute of the quarter.
2nd Quarter: Dayton 11, Davidson 27
- A free throw from freshman Olivia Leung with 9:40 on the clock ended the scoring drought for the Flyers.
- Turnovers started to add up for UD as Davidson had 11 points off 11 turnovers in the first 12 minutes of action.
- A free throw by senior Arianna Smith made it two points for Dayton with 6:11 to go in the second as the Flyers still looked for their first field goal.
- Junior Nayo Lear provided that bucket to make it a 23-6 game in the Wildcats' favor.
- Davidson tried to add to its lead but went on a five-minute drought of its own.
- Lear hit two more free throws to put UD in double digits with 1:42 to play.
3rd Quarter: Dayton 20, Davidson 43
- Dayton forced a turnover on the opening possession of the second half to start with momentum in its favor.
- Graduate student Nicole Stephens hit a three at the 8:19 mark, the first of the game for the Flyers, making it a 13-point margin.
- Davidson didn't get its first points until 5:47 on the clock.
- UD had to rely on free throws as it went six more minutes without a field goal. +9
4th Quarter: Dayton 36, Davidson 56
- Senior Ivy Wolf drilled a three at the top of the key to try and spark something for the Flyers.
- Smith converted an and-one with 5:38 to play in the game, cutting the margin to under 20.
- Dayton continued to pound the ball in the paint and got Davidson into foul trouble.
- In the end, the Wildcats proved to be too efficient for the Flyers to make a comeback.
KEY STATS
14 –
Arianna Smith led the way with her 14
th double-double of the season with team-highs of 13 points and 13 rebounds.
29 – Dayton committed 29 turnovers that resulted in 22 points for Davidson.
3 – The Flyers held the sharpshooting Wildcats to just three made threes on 22 attempts.
14 to 9 – UD had a 14-9 made free throws advantage.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will see if they have any postseason opportunities next Sunday for Selection Sunday.
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