Virginia Falls 61-46 at Dayton
Nov. 19, 2017
DAYTON, Ohio – The Virginia women’s basketball team (1-3) fell 61-46 to Dayton (4-0) on Sunday (Nov. 19) at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio.
The game was tied after the first quarter, but Dayton pulled away in the second, outscoring the Cavaliers 20-12 in the frame. The Cavaliers pulled to within five, 40-35, early in the fourth quarter, but last season’s A-10 champions went on a 10-3 run to regain control of the game and went 11-of-12 from the free throw line in the final 1:30 to close out the game.
Sophomore guards Jocelyn Willoughby (East Orange, N.J.) and Dominique Toussaint (Staten Island, N.Y.) led the team with nine points apiece. Dayton’s Jayla Scaife scored 17 points with 10 rebounds.
“We could not make a layup today,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “I don’t know how many layups we missed, but because of that, we were in transition defense all game. We got some great looks. It was an incredibly physical game, and I don’t think we matched that. I thought we were getting bumped, but we needed to finish some of those plays to take some of the pressure off. Dayton had a huge edge in rebounding today. We got a body on people, but they are so athletic, they jumped over us and we didn’t carve out enough space to get over-the-back calls.”
Both teams started the game suffering from cold shooting, with Dayton going 2-of-9 to start the game and Virginia 1-of-7. The two teams finished the first quarter tied at nine with senior forward Lauren Moses (Mount Holly, N.J.) scoring five of UVA’s first seven points.
In the second quarter, it was a different Cavalier senior to take over the scoring reins with guard Aliyah Huland El (Randolph, N.J.) tallying UVA’s first five points of the frame. Scaife heated up for the Flyers, contributing seven points during a 12-2 Dayton run that put the Cavaliers down 27-16. Willoughby ended a 4:47 Virginia scoring drought by draining a three with 1:43 remaining in the half. The Cavaliers went into halftime trailing 29-21.
The second half began as a shooting quagmire with the two teams starting a combined 0-of-13 from the floor. Moses made the first basket of the quarter by either team 5:27 into the frame, cutting the Flyers’ advantage to 29-24. Lauren Cannatelli and Maddy Dennis snapped Dayton’s cold streak by hitting back-to-back threes in a 32 second span to put the Flyers up 35-24. Toussaint closed out the period with a three for the Cavaliers, making it a 38-29 game.
The Cavaliers started the fourth quarter on a 6-2 run, capped by a jumper from senior guard J’Kyra Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.), pulling to within five, 40-35, but Dayton responded with back-to-back buckets to push the lead back to 44-35 with five minutes remaining. A three-pointer from Brown with 2:54 remaining got the deficit back to single digits, but Cannatelli responded with a three for the Flyers. Virginia started with the quick fouls, but Dayton converted their free throws down the stretch to close out the victory.
The Cavaliers shot 26.9 percent (18-of-67) while Dayton was 21-of-57 (.36.8 percent) and 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Dayton held a 53-35 edge in rebounding.
Freshman guard Brianna Tinsley (Madison, Va.) made her first career start. She played 11 minutes, grabbing a rebound and dishing out an assist.
The Cavaliers return home to host Hampton on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 7 p.m. at John Paul Jones Arena.
Single-game ticket prices for all home games are $10 for Reserved seating, $8 for adult General Admission and $6 for youth (18 & under), senior (60 & over) and UVA faculty/staff General Admission. Fans may purchase home game tickets through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office online at VirginiaSports.com, by phone and in person. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office is located in Bryant Hall at Scott Stadium and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Telephone purchases can be made by calling 1-800-542-UVA1 (8821) or locally at 434-924-UVA1 (8821).