WILMINGTON, Del. -- The top-seeded Dayton Flyers were able to avenge their only Atlantic 10 setback this season by besting VCU 59-48, advancing to the A-10 Women's Basketball Championship Final Saturday afternoon at Chase Fieldhouse.
“That was always something in the back of our head coming into this game,” All-Conference Third Team selection Erin Whalen said. “We just used it as more motivation, not that you really need much when you are out on the floor. It was something that they took away from us, our goal to be undefeated (in conference play). A lot of learning opportunities came from that game, and we used it to fuel us.”
Dayton was led by Whalen’s 20 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Five of those makes came on three-point shots. Makira Cook, an A-10 Second Team selection, concluded play with 12 points. The Flyers also won the rebounding battle by a decisive 48-36 margin and never trailed in the contest.
“That was a great basketball game,” Dayton coach Shauna Green said. “We’ve gone back and forth for multiple years. I have a ton of respect for Beth and their players. This team has shown that it’s always ready to bounce back. I know we would be ready to go and ready to come take care of business and do what we do. We won all three of our battles and when we do that, we are in position to win."
VCU's All-Conference First Team member Taya Robinson lead the way with her 25 points and seven rebounds. All-Conference Third Teamer Sarah Te-Biasu scored 10 points.
“I want to congratulate Dayton on an incredible game,” VCU coach Beth O’Boyle said. “It’s always a battle with the two of us. I thought they played intense and really deserve a lot of credit for earning a hard-fought win. It’s been an incredible experience for our student-athletes. This is probably the hardest press conference as a coach, you have the dreams of winning a championship, we experienced it last year and know what it feels like and when it doesn’t go your way, it’s a heartbreaker.”
Whalen got Dayton off to a quick start by scoring the Flyers first eight points of the afternoon.
First, Whalen found her way to the basket, then buried two consecutive 3-point baskets as VCU was left searching for answers. Whalen scored once more as Dayton stretched the cumulative advantage into a 12-2 run, with each basket coming with an assist.
“Our starts are always really important, and we’ve been coming out to good starts,” said Green. “With this team I didn’t have to motivate them very much and I trust them. They’ve proven that they’ll bounce back and be ready to go. I’m not usually calm, but there’s a calmness to me because I have a ton of trust and knew and at least play hard and that’s all I ask.”
Robinson was responsible for each of VCU's three first-quarter field goals and the Rams defense began to settle in, holding Dayton without a field goal for the final 3:51 of the frame. VCU was held to a 20 percent shooting performance in the first quarter as it trailed Dayton by seven points.
“Basketball is a game of runs and we know that Dayton is a veteran team,” Robinson said. “We just had to stick together and give it all that we got.”
Dayton quickly recovered at the beginning of the second quarter, as Cook buried a 3-point shot and then teammate Kyla Whitehead converted a layup. VCU briefly brought its deficit back to the original eight points it trailed by at the quarter's start, but graduate students and Jenna Giacone and Araion Bradshaw responded with a field goal and a 3-pointers respectively.
By halftime Dayton led by 11 points with the Flyers assisting on 10 of their 12 field goals and the final total would be 16 assists on 20 successful baskets. Additionally, Robinson was responsible for 11 VCU's 19 points.
The defending Atlantic 10 Champions refused to back down, as VCU went on a 7-2 run, which started off Janika Griffith-Wallace's jumper. After Dayton scored, Robinson connected again, this time from deep. When Robinson turned a steal into a score, Green called a timeout.
Coming out of that timeout, Whalen buried another 3-point shot, opening a 7-0 run back the other way, as the lead extended to 13 points. The quarter of runs would conclude with the Rams closing on a 5-0 spurt which would separate the teams by eight points after 30 minutes.
Though Whalen would again strike from deep to welcome in the fourth quarter, VCU responded with five unanswered points to again bring the contest to within two possessions. Bradshaw would be the one to bring Dayton back by converting a 3-point play, which launched an 8-2 run that again pushed the teams 12 points apart with less than three minutes remaining.
With 52 seconds left and VCU trailing by eight points, Bradshaw missed both free throws, but the Rams were unable to come away with a rebound, which helped Dayton secure victory.
“It’s just an amazing feeling, this is why we came back,” said Whalen. “We wanted to get our redemption but it’s hard to describe. We’re excited, our focus is for it and this is what we’ve worked for all year.”