In the conference opener for both teams, the Davidson Wildcats continued the best start in program history, moving to 8-1 overall, with a 81-53 victory against the Dayton Flyers (4-4, 0-1 A-10) at John M. Belk Arena on Tuesday night. In a game that featured almost entirely scoring in the paint, Davidson took an early lead and never looked back as the Wildcats picked up their first ever victory against Dayton in thirteen tries.
Davidson came out ready to play right from the opening tipoff. Their defense was active as they disrupted passing lanes and their offense quickly found their groove, in part helped by Dayton foul trouble. Dayton’s Mariah Perez is often the tallest player on the floor at 6 feet 3 inches and while she came into the day averaging ten points and eight rebounds per game, she didn’t give herself a great chance to extend that. The graduate student was called for two personal fouls in the game’s first 3:14. She was immediately subbed out by Head Coach Tamika Williams-Jeter and her presence was missed for the remainder of the first half.
In the half court offense, Davidson fed the ball into the low post where they would post up and finish with a successful layup. It wasn’t only Davidson forward Millie Prior who had success in the first quarter down low. Even the Wildcat guards were dominating down low as Rosie Deegan and Maddie Plank each had six points in the paint in the first quarter. Dayton Head Coach Tamika Williams-Jeter said postgame, “I felt like tonight we got out-toughed. When guards are posting up and getting and-ones, you’re getting out-toughed”. Davidson led 24-8 after the first quarter.
With Perez still on the bench in the second quarter, Davidson’s Issy Morgan showed her prowess in the paint scoring eight points there in the second quarter and maintaining Davidson’s healthy advantage on the scoreboard. Dayton’s offense picked up slightly as Shannon Wheeler came in off the bench and during the second quarter, scored her only 6 points of the game. But, Morgan finished the half with a flourish. In the waning seconds of the second quarter, the 5 foot 10 guard perfectly timed a block on the defensive end, grabbed the loose ball, and sprinted down the floor through traffic to finish with a tough floater in the paint to beat the buzzer; Davidson led 45-21 at halftime.
In the second half, Dayton’s offense continued to score more and Davidson offensively started shooting more three-pointers. This didn’t put much of a dent in the Wildcats’ lead as they led 66-37 after three quarters. In the fourth quarter, both teams went deep in their bench to give their younger players some game minutes with the outcome already determined. The final score was 81-53 Davidson. While Williams-Jeter was able to appreciate getting her young players lots of minutes, she did not love how her team responded after falling behind early. “But what I didn’t like was that we didn’t fight. That game was over in the first three minutes”.
Williams-Jeter also heaped praise on the play of Dayton’s Arianna Smith who finished with ten points and 13 rebounds, picking up her fourth double-double of the season. The issue for Smith was that besides Destiny Bohanon’s team-high 11 points, there wasn’t much offensive help. The Flyers leading scorer this season, Ivy Wolf, was stymied to a season-low three points on 1-11 shooting.
Meanwhile for Davidson, Rosie Deegan led the way with a season high 22 points on an excellent 10-12 shooting night. Morgan scored 15 points while Prior and Charlise Dunn added 12 points apiece. As a team, the Wildcats shot 56.9 percent from the field and outscored Dayton in the paint, 56-44.
It is unusual for teams to play a conference game in early December and then have a few more weeks of non-conference games to follow. But, it served as a litmus test for both teams, especially the Flyers. “Right now, I feel like Davidson’s the best team in the conference” remarked Williams-Jeter adding that getting to face off against one of the league’s best teams this year is a positive for her program. “For us, I think it’s the best way to start it; to see where we sit, to see what the conference is about because we have some new kids.”
Looking ahead, Dayton will aim to move back to .500 on Sat, Dec. 9 at Miami (OH) at 1:00pm. Meanwhile, Davidson hosts High Point on Fri, Dec. 8 at 7:00pm in the fifth game of a six game Wildcat homestand.