Shauna Green: Dayton learning from close losses in A-10 play

Flyers tied for third entering Sunday game at Rhode Island

Except for a couple of possessions in two losses, Shauna Green feels her women’s basketball team could be undefeated in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Instead, the Dayton Flyers (10-8 overall) are 5-2 in the league, tied for third with Duquesne (11-9) and behind first-place Virginia Commonwealth (15-6, 7-1) and Davidson (12-8, 6-1). Dayton plays each of the other top-four teams in an 11-day stretch later this month.

Dayton has played three close games in A-10 play and lost two. A 46-45 loss at George Washington (8-13, 5-3) on Jan. 12 came down to two blocked shots by the Colonials in the final seconds. Then on Jan. 23 at Saint Louis (9-12, 4-4), Dayton had the lead in the final minute of the first and second overtimes before losing 68-65 in the third overtime.

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The late-game luck went the other way for Dayton in its last game Sunday as it beat Saint Joseph’s 72-65 in overtime at UD Arena. The Hawks are 6-14 and 2-5.

“We could have easily lost that game,” Green said Thursday, “but we found a way, and in overtime we went on an 8-0 run to start it and really put it away. With this team, it’s about just learning and finding a way to win. We’ve got to get some confidence and get a winning streak together.”

Dayton returns to action after a week break with a 1 p.m. Sunday game at Rhode Island (7-13, 2-6) and then returns home to play Richmond (5-15, 2-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“Our bye week kind of worked out better in terms of us just getting healthy,” Green said, “and having some time really halfway through the conference to look at some things, work on some new things and then tighten up some things that we need to get better at.”

Recruiting news: The Flyers picked up their first verbal commitment from a member of the 2020 recruiting class Friday.

Anna LeMaster, of St. John’s Catholic Prep in Frederick, Md., announced her decision to attend the University of Dayton on Twitter. She’s a 5-foot-9 guard who had scholarship offers from Drexel, Towson, Fordham and others.

LeMaster attended Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Va., until this season, her junior season. She hit the 1,000-point career mark on Jan. 16.

Dayton has three players in its 2019 class. Nadjy Tyler, a 6-foot-3 senior forward at Imhotep Charter High School in Philadelphia, committed in January.

Mariah Perez, a 6-foot-3 senior forward from Newark Tech High School (N.J.), committed in September. Destiny Bohanon, a 5-8 guard from Wayne, committed in September 2017.

Perez and Bohanon signed their letters of intent in November. Dayton also will have Vanderbilt transfer Erin Whalen making her debut in 2019.

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