Women’s basketball: Dayton Flyers rout Duquesne to start 2-0 in A-10

“We haven’t had many games,” Dayton coach Shauna Green said. “Everyone wants to play. This was a really good opportunity to get a lot of people game action. We’re kind of learning on the fly.”

That depth will help Dayton (3-1, 2-0) throughout the 18-game Atlantic 10 Conference schedule because it will play two games in three days every weekend. The change to playing games on Friday and Sunday was made by the conference to limit travel during the coronavirus pandemic.

For example, Dayton will play its next two games in the Washington, D.C.., area, facing George Mason on Friday and then George Washington two days later. The new format makes it challenging to prepare for games because of the short turnaround. Dayton routed Duquesne (2-4, 1-1) two days after beating St. Bonaventure 56-47.

“I just want games,” Green said. “Is it ideal? No. It’s new for me. I’ve never played a Friday-Sunday schedule. It was a long night on Friday to get a lot of prep in and then be prepared for practice on Saturday. It is what it is. As long as we play, I’ll take everything we get at this point.”

Dayton won its second game in three days after playing only two non-conference games in December and not playing at all between Dec. 6 and this week because of COVID-19 issues.

Erin Whalen led the Flyers with 13 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Araion Bradshaw added 12 points and matched Whalen for the team lead with seven rebounds. Jenna Giacone scored eight. Nadjy Tyler and Destiny Bohanon each had six rebounds off the bench.

Dayton trailed once, 5-4 midway through the first quarter. It led 17-12 after one quarter and started the second quarter on a 14-4 run. The Flyers stretched their lead to 53-30 at the end of the third quarter. Duquense outscored Dayton 18-11 in the fourth quarter.

“I was really happy with how we came out and started the game,” Green said. “We had a solid three quarters. The fourth quarter, we needed to be able to finish. I talked to our team about that. I don’t care who’s out there. We’ve got to continue to defend, take care of the basketball and finish the game.”