The Colonials' are entering Sunday's game coming off a 68-52 win over URI and are 2-0 in the A10, while the Flyers are coming off a 60-48 win over Richmond and are 1-1 in the A10. It is difficult to evaluate how good of a team Dayton is this year. Their résumé features wins over Louisville, Princeton, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin, but loses to Purdue, Gonzaga, and Green Bay and got blow out by 30 points at Duquesne in their A10 opener.
There isn't any doubt that Dayton is still one of the top-three teams in the conference though. More to the point, they have been nearly unbeatable at home. In last year's meeting at UD Arena, GW ended the nation's longest (active) home winning streak with a 69-66 win over the Flyers.
One of the keys to the Colonials' recent success over the Flyers has been their size advantage. GW currently has four players 6'2 or taller, while Dayton has five, so this is a potential game-changer. Dayton also lost one of their best players from last year, Ally Mallot, who graduated and was a top draft pick in the WNBA draft. They do return point guard Kelley Austria, who averages 6.9 points per game.
The main key to a GW victory is the Colonials' ability to hit perimeter shots constantly,as well as slashing in the lane and getting easy buckets. It is also essential that Jonquel Jones stays out of foul trouble. And it wouldn't hurt if she has 19 points and 17 rebounds like she did in her last outing against Rhode Island on Wednesday.
On a personal note, I will be driving up to Dayton from Louisville to attend the game, and hopefully will cheer the Colonials on to a 4th straight win over Dayton. Either way, it is bound to be a good game, as it always is when these two rivals meet. And this game should be no exception.
