It was a magical season for the Dayton Flyers as they were ranked seventh and made it to the Elite 8. They were the lowest seed remaining in the women's tournament as only top three seeds remained. That magical season came to a haulting stop as they took on number one seed Connecticut. Coming in, Connceticut had only one loss in the regular season. In fact, one loss the last two seasons. The defending champion Huskies looked to potentially repeat as the champions again. In the end, Dayton hung in there near halftime but woukd fall to UConn, 91-70.
It was the trio for UConn that proved to be to overpowering for Dayton. That trio consisted of Morgan Tuck, Breanna Stewart and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis. Mosqueda-Lewis finished the game with 27 points including seven three-pointers. That third one was an NCAA record for most three pointers in a career at 393. Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart each had 23 points apiece, Stewart also had 16 rebounds.
Dayton was successful in the first half. They appeared to be a team that was looking to pull off an upset. Things did change for the worst in the second half though. Dayton came out strong making shots when they had to. They shot 51 percent in the first half. Ally Malott had 14 points in the first half she was the leading scorer in the game for Dayton with 14. At the end of the first half, Dayton lead 44-43. With about three to go in the first half things had changed momentum wise. UConn now lead 43-38 and they never looked back. That's where the UConn dominance kicked in.
Unlike the first half, UConn was starting to look like the defending champions. Dayton only shot 38 percent. That's the reason as to why they were sent home. UConn started the half with a 15-3 run. They led the Flyers 58-47 with around 13 minutes to go. From there it was all UConn as they went on to win 91-70.
It's a style of top seeds in Tampa Bay, Florida for the Final Four as Connecticut will face Maryland on Sunday night. The winner plays the winner of Notre Dame-South Carolina on Sunday for the Championship.