As a somewhat surprisingly successful season nears its end, the Massachusetts women’s basketball team finishes out this season’s road schedule with a matchup against Dayton tonight at UD Arena.
UMass (10-16, 4-10 Atlantic 10) enters the Atlantic 10 matchup following a 65-43 loss against Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday. The Minutewomen will look to take at least one game of their two-game road trip when the game tips off at 7 p.m.
UMass will be the decided underdog as Dayton comes into the contest on a roll. After a slow start, the Flyers (21-5, 12-2 A-10) have rattled off 18 wins in their last 20 games. In that span, only No. 24 George Washington – the A-10 leader – has beaten them.
Currently sitting 13th in the conference standings, a loss tonight would almost certainly leave the Minutemen playing in one of the two play-in games next Wednesday, March 4. A win would at least give UMass a chance to avoid a play-in game depending on other conference results.
“Getting a win is always important and picking up wins on the road will only give us more confidence heading into the tournament,” Minutewomen coach Sharon Dawley said. “There’s a huge pack of teams battling for those last couple spots, so winning will only better our chances for a better seed.”
Recent history is not on UMass’s side tonight. The Minutewomen trail the all-time series with the Flyers 11-10, but UMass hasn’t beaten Dayton since the 2007-08 season. That year, UMass won 56-46.
If the Minutewomen want to win, they’ll have to slow down Flyers senior guard Andrea Hoover, who comes into the game averaging 18.2 points per game – tied for second in the A-10 with UMass senior forward Kim Pierre-Louis. On top of that, Dayton gets great production out of senior forward Ally Malott, who averages 15.6 points per game. Both players also average over seven rebounds a game.
The Minutewomen will need a dominant performance from Pierre-Louis if they want any chance of winning. The Ottawa, Ontario native recently reached the 1000-point plateau last week in a game against Davidson, and has scored over 20 points nine times this season.
Dawley knows the team has a tough battle on their hands, but she has confidence in her team to play hard.
“I’m just looking for my girls to fight out there,” Dawley said. “We are looking to gain confidence going into the tournament and a win here would be key in doing do that.”
Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. at UD Arena.
Adam Aucoin can be reached at [email protected].
