A championship game accompanied with the drama and possession by possession signifying March Madness. The Dayton women edged VCU 52-48 to earn the Atlantic Ten Championship. Sunday’s game at Dayton arena saw 11 lead changes and 10 ties. First, the numbers…..
Possessions: 61- Grind it out defensive oriented pace. Not rare when you have so much riding on one game.
Offensive efficiency: Dayton 84, VCU 80- Both numbers tell you the defense dictated. Not great offensive numbers, but excellent defense.
The Four Factors:
| eFG Pct | FT Rate | OREB Pct. | TO Rate | |
| VCU | 36 | 33 | 29 | 21 |
| Dayton | 32 | 43 | 37 | 18 |
The previous chart shows how close these teams were. A significant difference was offensive rebounding percentage. Shawna Green’s Flyers had a slight 11-7 advantage in second chance points. What the edge on the offensive glass did provide was the ability to extend possessions. ‘Winning’ the offensive boards also affords an opportunity to draw fouls (see free throw rate). In a game, tough to find a significant difference, the battle of the boards proved decisive in this contest.
Leading scorers:
Dayton- Kyla Whitehead , Jayla Scaife 13 points. Whitehead added a game high 10 rebounds (5 offensive). Scaife added 6 boards. She did have a team high 3 turnovers. That was offset by a game high 7 fouls drawn.
VCU- Taya Robinson 14. Robinson canned 2 of the Rams’ 3 treys.
Much has been made of the Dayton men running the table in Atlantic Ten play and rightfully so. The women were almost perfect in their own right. Their lone setback was a February 22 loss at Fordham. In the A10 semis (a win over Saint Louis) and final, the Flyers emerged victorious in two tough defensive battles.
VCU saw a second straight trip to the finals leave them as runner up. Coach Beth O’Boyle’s Rams lost to Fordham is last year’s championship in Pittsburgh. This time out it was an ever so close heart breaking finish, right on Dayton’s home floor. VCU finished 20-12 (13-3) with a WNIT bid a virtual lock. Dayton is 25-8 (15-1) and will find their next opponent and site come selection Monday.
All Tournament:
Bre Cavanaugh, Fordham
Danielle Hammond, VCU
Taya Robinson, VCU
Kyla Whitehead, Dayton
Jayla Scaife, Dayton
Most Outstanding Player
Jayla Scaife, Dayton
