Dayton won the regular-season championship in the last three seasons (2020-22) of coach Shauna Green’s tenure. It has finished 12th, tied for 12th and fifth in coach Tamika Williams-Jeter’s tenure.
Five different teams have won the A-10 tournament since Dayton’s last championship in 2020: Virginia Commonwealth; Massachusetts; Saint Louis; Richmond; and George Mason.
Dayton plays its first A-10 game Dec. 3 at George Washington. The other 17 conference games take place between Dec. 31 and Feb. 28.
The first of 11 non-conference games takes place at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Dayton plays Illinois State in Normal, Ill., in the season opener. The home opener against Mercyhurst follows at 7 p.m. Thursday.
“Getting ready for the season has been really exciting,” Johnson said. “It’s been really fun. The competition level in practice is great. We’ve been getting at it, competing against each other, pushing each other. In terms of chemistry on and off the court, it’s been great.”
Illinois State finished 24-13 last season and has posted winning records eight seasons in a row. The teams split two meetings in 2021 and 2022 with the visiting team winning each game.
Johnson, who’s from West Haven, Conn., played her freshman season at Boston College. Last season, she averaged 2.2 points in 9.3 minutes per game. She is one of four returning players who started games last season.
Williams-Jeter has asked Johnson to be more aggressive this season, to take shots when she’s open and to help her teammates get organized on the court.
Johnson has seen her teammates adapting to new roles as well.
“I think Nayo (Lear) has really been stepping up,” she said. “She’s been playing phenomenal basketball. She’s been leading us in a lot of stats this year. I think Olivia (Leung) is also really stepping up. She’s being more confident in handling the ball and attacking the basket and being really aggressive on offense and defense. And then our point guard Nicole (Stephens) continues to step up every year and support people the best way she can.”
Dayton played one closed-door exhibition game on the road against Michigan State on Oct. 26. Neither team reported a score.
“We had a lot of people out,” Johnson said. “There were some lingering injuries, but I think we played with a lot of grit. We had a couple of spurts where we punched them in the face, and we had a lot of really good runs. It’s just tough when you don’t have that many bodies. They had their full roster.”
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