UMass (26-6) won the tournament for the first time one year after losing 81-69 to Virginia Commonwealth in the championship game. UMass avenged a 69-60 loss at home to Dayton on Jan. 19.
Dayton fell to 3-4 in A-10 championship game appearances. It was the No. 1 seed in 2020 and beat VCU 52-48 in the final at UD Arena. In 2017, coach Shauna Green’s first season, the Flyers were again the No. 1 seed and beat Duquesne 70-56 at Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va. Dayton won its first championship in 2012 by beating St. Bonaventure 56-53 at Hagan Arena in Philadelphia.
On Sunday, Makira Cook led Dayton with 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting. Erin Whalen scored 13. Kyla Whitehead, Jenna Giacone and Tenin Magassa all had six points.
Sam Breen, who committed to Dayton in June 2016 before changing her mind in the spring of 2017, scored 19 on 8-of-16 shooting for UMass.
UMass took control with a 10-0 run in the first quarter and led 20-11 after one quarter and 37-28 at halftime. It pushed the lead to 15 in the third quarter. Trailing 58-46 in the fourth, Dayton scored eight straight points to cut the deficit to 58-54 with 1:05 left. UMass then made four straight free throws to clinch the victory.
UMass shot 46% from the field (24 of 52), while Dayton shot 39% (19 of 49).
The Flyers (25-6) advanced to the championship game by beating No. 9 seed Davidson 60-55 in overtime Friday and No. 4 seed VCU 59-48 in the semifinals Saturday.
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