GLEN ALLEN, Va. -- The third-seeded Davidson Wildcats have reached a program first – the Wildcats will play in the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball semifinals.
Davidson defeated the sixth-seeded Dayton Flyers 56-35 on Friday night in the A-10 Women’s Basketball quarterfinals at the Henrico Sports and Events Center. The Wildcats (18-12) will matchup with the second-seeded George Mason Patriots.
The Patriots booked their ticket to the A-10 semifinals after a powering 87-57 victory over the 10-seeded Saint Louis Billikens. George Mason and Davidson split the two regular-season matchups. Each team won its home matchup with the other.
“I thought that the first go around, it was a battle with some great players and [the Patriots] came out on one end,” Davidson coach Gayle Fulks said. “And our last game against them we had some players step up. And I think that’s the cool thing about both teams is that there’s a lot of weapons. And we’ve got to show up ready to play.”
Davidson never trailed in Friday’s quarterfinals. The Wildcats began with a 5-0 run on a layup and free throw from Charlise Dunn. Davidson secured a 14-point advantage at the conclusion of the first.
The Flyers (18-13) couldn’t recover from a deficit in which they saw themselves down 16-2 at the end of the first quarter. Dayton committed 21 turnovers in the first half.
Molly O’Riordan scored the lone bucket for Dayton in the first quarter. The Flyers scored nine points in the second to enter halftime down by double figures.
Davidson amassed as large as a 24-point lead. The Wildcats strong defense held the Flyers to single digits in the first three quarters.
Arianna Smith scored a team-high 13 points and Ivy Wolf added eight for the Flyers. Smith also grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.
“We had to be really, really, really good tonight to take that team down,” Dayton coach Tamika Williams-Jeter said. “And the way we played, with three assists and 20 turnovers at halftime, just playing fast, not playing Flyers basketball, that wasn’t going to get it done.”
Davidson and George Mason will clash in a historical A-10 semifinal. The Wildcats and Patriots are both headed to the program’s first conference championship since the two entered the league. Both teams are vying for a spot in their first ever A-10 championship final.
The Wildcats quarterfinals victory was Davidson’s first A-10 Championship appearance since 2023. Due to injuries last season, Davidson did not play in the 2024 A-10 Championship.
The Wildcats finished with two players in double figures: Issy Morgan (13) and Charlise Dunn (16).
“We know the job isn’t done and nobody’s getting complacent with where we’ve come,” Morgan said. “We know we need to take every single possession, possession by possession.”