Dayton Flyers
Atlantic 10 (25-6, 14-2)
Dayton overcame a tough start to the 2014-15 regular season, getting swept out in the Palouse against Washington State and Gonzaga. The Flyers rebounded nicely to get some big out of conference wins against the likes of Purdue, Vanderbilt and Green Bay to solidify themselves as a top 25 team that could make some noise in the NCAA Tournament despite losing twice to a very good George Washington team during conference play.
Big Wins: 12/21 at Vanderbilt (71-67), 12/28 Green Bay 72-66), 2/18 at Fordham (59-45)
Bad Losses: 11/14 at Washington State (60-76), 11/16 at Gonzaga (65-75), 1/4 George Washington (66-69)
Coach: Jim Jabir
Why They Can Surprise:
The Flyers can score well enough to give themselves a shot when the offense is firing on all cylinders. Senior guard Andrea Hoover came into the season as the reigning player of the year in the Atlantic 10 and she has picked up where she left off at the end of last season. Hoover is one of the best three-point shooters in all of college basketball and having that weapon of her dominant shooting alone makes Dayton dangerous. Ally Malott takes care of business down low and she is relentless in rebounding the basketball. She too is a very effective shooter, giving the Flyers a great inside-outside threat. Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova has emerged as one of the better shot blockers in the nation and that makes the Flyers even more dangerous in an NCAA Tournament setting.
Why They Can Disappoint:
Dayton has struggled with turning the basketball over during the 2014-2015 campaign. In the loss to George Washington on January 4th, the Colonials turned the Flyers over 23 times in a tightly contested 69-66 loss. Freshman point guard Jenna Burdette is going to have to come up huge in the NCAA Tournament by doing a great job of distributing the basketball to players like Hoover and Malott to let them go to work and take over the basketball game. Free-throw shooting was another issue in that loss to George Washington. Dayton shot just 53.6 percent from the foul line. If they do that in the NCAA Tournament, that will be one way to guarantee an earlier than expected exit from the postseason.
Probable Starters:
Andrea Hoover, Senior, Guard. 17.6 ppg, 3.3 apg, 6.5 rpg
Kelley Austria, Junior, Guard, 9.6 ppg, 1.8 apg
Jenna Burdette, Freshman, Guard, 5.7 ppg, 3.2 apg
Ally Malott, Senior, Forward, 15.3 ppg, 7.6 rpg
Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova, Junior, Center, 5.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.6 bpg
Key Roleplayers:
Amber Deane, Junior, Guard, 10.3 ppg, 1.8 apg
Saicha Grant-Allen, Sophomore, Center, 5.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg
Tiffany Johnson, Senior, Guard, 2.2 ppg, 1.5 apg
By the Numbers:
Scoring Offense: 76.2 (22nd in nation, 1st in conference)
Scoring Defense: 63.7 (163, 9)
Field-Goal Percentage: 43.8 (40, 1)
Field-Goal Defense: 35.9 (27, 2)
Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.4 (85, 2)
Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 38.6 (4, 1)
Free-Throw Percentage: 73.7 (35, 1)
Rebound Margin: 6.2 (36, 3)
Assists Per Game: 14.7 (79, 4)
Turnovers Per Game: 16.1 (168, 8)
Recent Postseason Appearances:
2014 NCAA First Round loss to Florida
2013 NCAA Round of 64 win over St. John's
2013 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Kentucky
2012 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Arkansas
2011 NCAA Round of 64 loss to Penn State
2010 NCAA Round of 64 win over TCU
2010 NCAA Round of 32 loss to Tennessee
2009 NIT First Round win over Oakland
2009 NIT Second Round loss to Indiana
2008 NIT First Round loss to Bowling Green
2000 NIT First Round loss to Florida
*all team stats through 3/5
See All Women’s Basketball Postseason Capsules
