Full team effort leads Flyers to commanding win over Duquesne 

The Flyers dribble out the clock in a 64-48 win over Duquesne, extending their A10 home winning streak to 33 games. Photo courtesy of Peter Burtnett, Flyer News.

Peter Burtnett
Sports Editor

In a game in which 11 different Flyers scored, a full team effort by the University of Dayton women’s basketball team led the way in a commanding 64-48 win over Duquesne.

Out of the gate, both teams struggled from the field, with the Flyers taking a 6-5 lead into the first quarter media timeout with 3:52 left in the opening frame. The Flyers were a cold 3-10 from the field, and the Dukes were slightly better at 2-7 on field goals. 

In the remainder of the quarter, the Flyers relied on a pair of big offensive rebounds by redshirt freshman forward Nadjy Tyler, who was fouled after both, knocking down 3 of 4 free throws. 

“(Rebounding) was an area I was concerned with going into the season,” Flyers head coach Shauna Green said. After finishing Sunday’s game with 49 rebounds, 14 on offense, Green credits her bigs for getting the rebounds.

“Our bigs got some rebounds and that was something we challenged them with,” Green said. “A couple of them against Bonaventure were getting a lot of minutes and just one rebound, and that’s just not good enough. So we challenged them, I thought they responded… We’re just going to continue to take it one day at a time to improve on that, but rebounding going through the whole year is going to be something that we’re going to continue to work on.”

Redshirt senior guard Jenna Giacone knocked down a three with a hand in her face to give the Flyers a 17-12 lead to close the first, with fellow redshirt senior guards Erin Whalen and Araion Bradshaw leading the way in scoring with 5 and 4 points, respectively. Tyler also had 3 points and 3 rebounds after one.

Poor shooting plagued the Dukes to start the second quarter. While the Dukes were just 1-9 in the first five minutes of the quarter, the Flyers, led by a pair of threes from Whalen, started the second quarter 4-12, taking advantage of second chance opportunities to take a 26-14 lead into the media timeout with 4:49 remaining.

“I was really happy with how we came out and really how we started the game,” Green said. “I thought we had a really solid three quarters. The fourth quarter, we need to be able to finish and I talked to our team about that… But overall, (I was) really happy with how we came out and defended, and our offense looked a lit bit smoother than Friday (against St. Bonaventure). We still got a long ways to go, but it looked a little bit better.”

By the end of the half, all 12 of the Flyers’ available players had taken the court, with 9 of the 12 getting on the scoreboard. Led by Whalen with 10 points, the Flyers took a 34-21 lead into halftime. 

However, with the final seconds ticking off the clock, Dukes senior guard and leading scorer Amanda Kalin was taking the ball up the court and suffered what looked to be a knee injury in her right leg. After several minutes on the floor, Kalin got up, but was unable to put any pressure on her right leg and remained on the bench for the rest of the game.

In a scrambled season where teams can go almost a month without a game and then play two in three days, depth is critical in a season that is “new for all of us,” according to Green.

“That’s where our depth, I think is going to come in and hopefully help us throughout this season.”

At the break, the Flyers were shooting just 33 percent from the field (11-33), but were able to hold a comfortable lead with the Dukes shooting just 23 percent (6-26). From 3-point, the Flyers also led 29 to 25 percent (4-14, 2-8). The biggest advantage for the Flyers, however, was points off turnovers, which they led 17-4, due to 10 turnovers by the Dukes compared to just 6 by the Flyers. 

The Flyers continued to hold serve to start the third quarter, stretching their lead to 46-28 with 4:46 left in the quarter. With Whalen, Bradshaw, and Giacone now up to a combined 31 points, the Flyers were in firm control of the game.

By the end of the third, 11 of 12 Flyers had scored after a lay-up by junior forward Kyla Whitehead, and the home team took a 53-30 lead into the fourth quarter. 

In the final quarter, the Flyers coasted the rest of the way, although Tyler went down holding her knee with 2:49 left in the game, but was able to limp back to the bench, and the Flyers closed out a 64-48 win, extending their A10 home court winning streak to 33 games. 

The Flyers were led by Whalen – 13 points on 4-13 shooting and 3-5 from three, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block and steal – and Bradshaw – 12 points on 4-8 shooting and 2-4 from three, 7 rebounds and 2 assists – along with big scoring contributions from Giacone with 8 points and redshirt sophomore Maliya Perry with 6. 

11 of 12 Flyers scored at least 2 points, and the same 11 also grabbed at least 1 rebound. Continuing with the theme of equal distribution of play, seven different Flyers assisted a basket. The Flyers also finished with 5 blocks (all by a different player) and 5 steals (also by five different players). 

“The most important thing that we got out today is we got every single person experience and we got to get a couple of our starters not as many minutes to get them a little bit of rest and get them healed up,” Green said.

Tyler went down holding her knee with 2:49 left in the game, but she was able to limp back to the bench. After the game, Green said her brace did its job and Tyler is “OK” moving forward.

After Tyler went down, the Flyers closed out a 64-48 win, extending their A10 home court winning streak to 33 games. 

The Flyers’ (3-1, 2-0 A10) next game is on the road Friday against George Mason.