RICHMOND, Va. (Atlantic10.com) -- After defeating the No. 2 and No. 3 seeds, seventh-seeded Duquesne's Atlantic 10 Championship run came to an end as the Dukes fell 70-56 to No. 1 seed Dayton Sunday afternoon at the Richmond Coliseum.
Kadri-Ann Lass led Duquesne (18-15, 8-8 A-10) with 19 points and six rebounds. Amadea Szamosi and Conor Richardson each added 12 points for the Dukes.
JaVonna Layfield scored 15 points for the Flyers (22-9, 13-3 A-10), with Saicha Grant-Allen registering a double-double with 14 points and 11 rebounds. Jayla Scaife had 11 points.
FIRST QUARTER
Brianna Thomas hit a 3-pointer and then a layup, putting the Dukes ahead 5-0 with 8:50 to go. Duquesne held Dayton scoreless until a Grant-Allen jumper at the 6:59 mark put the Flyers on the board.After scoring seven unanswered points, the Dukes would extend their lead to as much as nine points--up 19-10--with 2:07 to go. Layfield's basket with 24 seconds on the clock closed the scoring at 22-16. Szamosi led the Dukes with seven points in the quarter.
SECOND QUARTER
The Flyers fought back to take the lead at the 2:15 mark when Scaife's layup put UD up 28-26. Lass would answer with a 3-pointer to regain the Dukes advantage. Dayton would score the next two field goals to take a 32-39 advantage into halftime.
THIRD QUARTER
The Flyers carried their momentum to start the second half, extending their lead to as much as 11 points--twice at the 4:28 mark and again with 1:16 to go.
FOURTH QUARTER
Lass' basket at the 9:08 mark cut Duquesne's deficit to within six points at 50-44. Buardette's jumper with 7:16 left gave Dayton a double-digit lead at 56-46. Dayton would go on to find its largest lead of the game--up 16--with 1:13 remaining. The Flyers shot 53.8 percent from the field and 60 percent from beyond the arc in the second half.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Szamosi represented Duquesne on the A-10 All-Championship Team, which was announced at the conclusion of the game. Dayton junior guard Jenna Burdette was named the Most Outstanding Performer of the Atlantic 10 Championship and was joined on the All-Championship Team by teammates Kelley Austria and Grant-Allen.
