All good things must come to an end. Tonight, the nation’s longest active winning streak came to an end as Dayton handed Rhode Island its’ first loss in 14 games – 47-37 – and the first home loss of the season at the Ryan Center.
What was at stake? First place in the Atlantic 10 as URI held a slim edge over Dayton in the the loss column coming into the contest. Dayton’s stout defense gave URI fits as the Rams shot just 5-for-23 from the field and forced 10 turnovers in the first half alone– which led directly to 12 points for the Flyers. Dayton capitalized on the Rams’ early struggles and took a 27-15 lead into halftime.
The Flyers stretched the lead to 15 in the third quarter, pulling ahead 32-17 with 7:36 on the clock. Rhode Island stormed back with a 13-2 run however, limiting Dayton to just one basket over the next seven minutes while cutting the deficit to four (34-30). Araion Bradshaw killed the Rams’ momentum at the buzzer though, as she banked in a final-second 3-ball that sent the Flyers into the final quarter up 37-30.
An early trey by Dolly Cairns got URI back within five (37-32) in the fourth, but the Rams did not score again until another basket by Cairns made it a 43-34 game with 1:50 left to play. Rhody battled until the clock hit zeroes, but the deficit was too much to overcome.
