HENRICO, Va. - The 11th-seeded Dayton Flyers held serve, defeating 14th-seeded St. Bonaventure 66-52, advancing to day two of the Atlantic 10 Championship Wednesday afternoon at the Henrico Sports & Events Center.
Dayton was led by Ivy Wolf’s 14 points, while Anyssa Jones earned 13 points. Mariah Perez rounded out the trio of double-digit Flyers scorers with her 10 points.
“I thought we played a pretty balanced game as a team today,” Dayton coach Tamika Williams-Jeter assessed. “The ball bounced around offensively and we ran our sets. Defensively I thought that’s where we were solid and that’s what we have to be right now. We have to keep people in front of us, make people take contested shots. That 1-for-10 for St. Bonaventure from three was huge.”
The Flyers dominated the boards as evidenced by a 44-26 margin, paced by Arianna Smith’s nine rebounds. 11 Dayton players grabbed at least one rebound and the Flyers also were 11-for-12 from the free-throw line.
Defensively following the first quarter, the Bonnies struggled to put the ball in the basket and shot 28.2% from the field.
“It’s extremely important,” stated Perez. “When we play good defense as a team we get stops and then go back on the other end. We’re just focused on not one person guarding another person, we’re playing together as a team so we’re there when someone gets beat and the helper helps the helper, so we have to play as a team when it comes to defense.”
St. Bonaventure was without leading scorer Dani Haskell who was out due to injury and Nadechka Laccen was under the weather, meaning they dressed seven players.
The Bonnies were paced by Isabellah Middleton’s 15 points and Tianna Johnson’s 14 points.
“Credit to Dayton,” St. Bonaventure coach Jim Crowley offered. “I thought we forced them into some shots we wanted them to take in the first half and made them have to rotate the ball and they were able to do so. We had a really good first quarter but still trailed because they were able to make those shots. In that stretch in the second quarter we dug ourselves a hole. Our kids fought, we just ran out of gas a bit and couldn’t make enough shots.”
A rather even start to the first quarter saw the Bonnies break through first with a 6-0 run as they successfully used their transition game to power offensive efforts.
Jones answered back with five consecutive points as the teams jockeyed for control of a contest which remained one possession for the duration of this period.
When the dust settled it was the Flyers who scored the closing five points to lead 20-17.
Dayton’s defense contained St. Bonaventure in the second quarter, holding the Bonnies scoreless for 4:31, a string which dated back into the opening 10 minutes.
“We talked about finishing plays out in the first four minutes into that first timeout and I think we dominated, that was a big portion for us mentally and from a confidence point defensively,” Williams-Jeter said. “The second quarter is really when we put our imprint.”
During a 9-0 Flyers run, Nayo Lear converted consecutive midrange jump shots, bringing her teammates to their feet. Johnson put a stop to it with a step back jumper.
The Bonnies also had their struggles converting from the field as evidenced by a 1-for-12 mark dating back inside the closing minute of the first quarter.
When Ivy Wolf sank a three-point basket towards the latter stages of the second quarter, Dayton’s lead reached double figures for the first time.
In the half’s closing seconds, Taylor Napper converted a layup off a Johnson pass, as the Flyers took a 34-25 edge into the locker room.
Dayton went on a 9-2 run to open the third quarter as the Bonnies struggled to find their shot.
After four offsetting intentional fouls, St. Bonaventure compiled five consecutive points, Destiny Bohanon’s jumper put a stop to that, preserving a 49-36 lead with 10 minutes to play.
The Flyers greeted the fourth quarter by making capitalizing off the Bohanon basket to the tune of a 12-2 run before being able to rest some starters in preparation for Thursday’s game.
Dayton now advances to the second round to play Rhode Island. The Rams emerged victorious in the regular season meeting.
“This is where we finished last year, so it gives us another opportunity to attack that space,” determined Williams-Jeter. “You have something to prove playing the same team twice in one week. The way the ball popped when you talk about post play. All of our post players shot 50% or higher from the field. This win means a lot to them.”