Final Score: Dayton 70, VCU 65
Location: Richmond, Va. (Siegel Center)
Records: VCU 7-18 (4-9 A-10), Dayton 5-19 (4-9 A-10)
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The Short Story: VCU, who trailed as many as 13 points in the second half, fought back to tie the game three times in the fourth quarter but fell just short of the comeback.
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OPENING TIP:Â
- Timaya Lewis-Eutsey scored a career-high 20 points. Lewis-Eutsey shot 8-of-17 and grabbed seven rebounds
- Janika Griffith-Wallace scored 15 points, including going 4-of-10 from three, and dished four assists
- Grace Huston scored nine points on 3-of-5 shoot from 3-point range
- The Rams shot 24-of-60 total and 9-of-22 from behind the arc
- Dayton shot 53.3 percent from 3-point range and 45.3 percent from the field. VCU shot 40.0 percent from the floor
- Dayton's Anyssa Jones led her team with 18 points. Mariah Perez had a double-double with 16 points and 13 boards
- The game was tied four times, once in the first quarter and three times in the fourth
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HOW IT HAPPENED:Â
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- The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair and Elze Motekaiyte hit a jump shot as time expired to cut Dayton's lead to 19-15
- Dayton outscored the Rams 20-12 in the second quarter to push its lead to 39-27 at halftime
- The Black & Gold began to cut into the deficit in the third quarter, going on a 12-1 run to turn a 50-38 deficit into trailing jut 51-50 with 8:19 remaining in the fourt. After a Dayton layup, Griffith-Wallace tied the game at 53-53 on a 3-pointer with 6:47 left
- After Dayton regained a slight advantage, VCU had a chance to send try and send the game to overtime but Griffith-Wallace's 3-point attempt with six seconds left just missed
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UP NEXT:
VCU travels to St. Bonaventure for a 4 p.m. tipoff on Saturday, Feb. 15. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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