The A-10 championship will again be on the line at 2 p.m. Saturday when those same three seniors, now in their sixth season of college basketball, plus two fourth-year seniors, Kyla Whitehead and Amari Davidson, play their final home game against Rhode Island.
“It’s not too often you get to redo your senior night,” Dayton coach Shauna Green said Thursday, “so we’re really excited for these guys to be able to use that COVID year and have this honor in front of our normal fans, and then it’s also a big game, obviously. Hopefully, this senior day is different than last senior day. I’m really excited for all five of them. They’ve meant so much to this program, and we’re going to miss them a ton.”
Dayton (22-4, 13-1) owns a half-game lead over Rhode Island (22-4, 12-1), which will not make up a postponed game against Virginia Commonwealth. This will be the last regular-season games for both teams. The winner will claim the A-10 championship and the top seed in the conference tournament, which begins Wednesday at Chase Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del., The top four seeds begin play next Friday.
Both teams are also competing for NCAA tournament at-large berths. In ESPN’s latest bracket projection, Dayton was included as the A-10′s automatic qualifier and was a No. 11 seed playing No. 6 Virginia Tech in Baton Rouge, La., and Rhode Island was listed among the first four teams out of the bracket.
Dayton’s seniors hope their experience pays off in the big games ahead.
“I think it’s hard to find a large group that gels together so well, who understands what it takes to go out there and win,” Whitehead said. “Every single one of us seniors have won a championship so it’s great that we can take our young guys and let them know, ‘Hey, we’ve been here. This is what has to be done.’”
This will be the second game between Dayton and Rhode Island in the last two weeks. The Flyers won the first matchup 47-37 on Feb. 16. Dayton had 10 steals and nine blocked shots, while Bradshaw and Giacone led the offense with 10 points each. Rhode Island shot a season-worst 26.5% from the field and tied its season low in 3-pointers made (2 of 9).
“Their defense is really hard to score against, so we’ve got to be better offensively,” Green said. “We didn’t shoot it well against them. But our defense was really good against them, and that has to be a constant. We have to defend and rebound against them. Those are the two main keys going into it, but we’ve got to hit some shots.”
A victory would add a fitting chapter to the legacies of the five players who will experience a game at UD Arena for the final time.
Giacone played in her first Dayton game on Nov. 13, 2016, against Quinnipiac. That was also Green’s first game as head coach. Bradshaw started her college career one day later, playing one minute for South Carolina against Ohio State. Whalen’s career started at Vanderbilt, and she scored 11 points in her first game against Kennesaw State on Nov. 11, 2016.
All three of those players received framed jerseys after the final game last season. They won’t get another framed jersey, but Green said they will receive a framed collage of photos.
Whalen is on the verge of reaching the 1,000-point mark in her Dayton career in her final home game. She has averaged 12.9 points in three seasons and has 993 total points. Counting two seasons at Vanderbilt, she has 1,488 points.
Giacone, who sat out the 2017-18 season with an injury, has 897 points in five seasons. Bradshaw has 650 points and 380 assists in four seasons at Dayton.
“We have every intention of making sure this senior night goes how we planned,” Whalen said. “We just want to finish the season on a strong note. What I’m most excited about is just being out there with my family. They’ve supported me so much. They come to every single home game, most away games. To be able to honor them and have a lot of family outside my immediate family, it’s going to be great to truly celebrate senior day for a second time.”
This will be the first Senior Day for Whitehead, who has 663 points and 629 rebounds in four seasons, and Davidson, who has appeared in 22 games in her career.
Dayton has won the last two A-10 regular-season titles and won the championship four times in Green’s first five seasons. Despite all their success, none of the five seniors have played in the NCAA tournament. Dayton last played in the NCAA tournament in 2017, losing to Marquette in the first round, and Giacone did not see any time in that game.
The Flyers played in the NIT in 2018 and 2021 and would have played in the NCAA tournament in 2020 if it hadn’t been cancelled because of the pandemic.
“That’s a really a huge reason why I came back this year,” Whalen said. “I haven’t been able to have the NCAA experience yet. That’s something I want to be able to cross off my bucket list. But I think for our team, we’re wanting to compete well into March. That’s something that’s been on our mind since day one of the season.”
SATURDAY’S GAME
Rhode Island at Dayton, 2 p.m., ESPN+
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