Women’s Basketball Recap: Flyers Survive Late Game Complacency To Beat VCU
Michael Crouchley
Staff Writer
Dayton’s women’s basketball team extended their season-long win streak to 12 games Sunday, surviving a late-game comeback attempt by VCU to take down the Rams 74-64.
Burdette Is Nothin’ But Net
Senior guard Jenna Burdette, the team’s top scorer this season (16.5 PPG), showed her offensive leadership early, scoring the first five points for the Flyers.
“We usually have pretty strong starts, we’re just really energized before the game,” Burdette said.
Burdette continued that offensive showcase for the rest the match and finished with the game-high 23 points.
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Early Lockdown D And Ball Sharing
VCU shot just under 30 percent from the field in the first half, and could only manage 20 points on UD’s stifling defense.
“Our program is all about pride in our defense and containing the ball,” said coach Shauna Green.
The Flyers also held a major advantage in passing. UD’s 12 assists compared to VCU’s two was a factor in helping the Flyers pull out to a 40-20 lead at the half.
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The Rams Get Angry
The second half was a different story as VCU slowly began working themselves back into the game. The Flyers had multiple starters on the bench due to foul trouble which allowed VCU to inch a little bit closer in the third quarter.
Both teams shot lights out in the fourth (VCU outscored Dayton 28-15 and the Flyers shot 63 percent from three) but Dayton’s cushion proved to be too much. Having their lead cut down minute-by-minute didn’t sit well with the Flyers.
“Towards the end of the game we got kind of complacent,” Burdette said. “And we just weren’t as intense anymore.”
Despite the shotty fourth quarter Dayton still had a hot-shooting night, connecting on 53 percent of their three-point attempts. Dayton also crashed the boards, out-rebounding VCU by +11.
Senior guard JaVonna Layfield also notched her 12th double-double of the season with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
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What’s next?
With the win, Dayton is now 18-4 overall and remain a perfect 11-0 in conference play.
“We don’t ever talk about it,” Burdette said of the streak. “One of my teammates even asked me today what our record was. We just take it one game at a time.”
UD’s next test is at Massachusetts on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
Photos Taken By Roberto De La Rosa-Finch/Online Editor and Courtesy of Erik Schelkun