UD women fall to St. Joes in A10 semis

PHILADELPHIA, Pa - #11 University of Dayton was upset 61-54 by Saint Joseph’s in the semifinals of the 2013 Buick Atlantic 10 Championship at Hagan Arena on the campus of SJU.

Dayton drops to 27-2 overall and the Hawks improve to 22-8. Sophomore Andrea Hoover and freshman Kelley Austria both scored 11 points to lead the Flyers. Sophomore Ally Malott and senior Sam MacKay each added nine points.

UD shot 48 percent from the field, nearly coming back from a 15-point deficit, but could not overcome a 29.6 percent shooting effort in the first half (8-of-27).

SJU shot 45.7 percent in the first half. Chatil Van Grinsven powered the Hawks to victory with 19 points and 10 rebounds.

The Flyers got into a hole in the first half, and were down by as many as 15 with 2:21 on the clock.  Austria drained the Flyers’ first trey of the game with 47 seconds left in the half and Hoover hit one at the buzzer to cut the SJU lead to 35-24. UD did not hit its first field goal until the 13:08 mark on an Olivia Applewhite layup.

The 24 first half points tied a season low for the Flyers ( the other time was a 60-53 win over Michigan State in which UD was down by as many as 12).

Dayton also lost the battle of the boards (42-32) for the fifth time this season, and for the second consecutive game.

The Flyers now will wait for their seeding in the NCAA Championship on Selection Monday. The selections will be aired live on ESPN on March 18 at 7 p.m.