Flyers defeat Cavs to improve to 4-0

Year two of the Shauna Green era at the University of Dayton keeps on rolling along.

The Flyers improved to 4-0 by beating Virginia 61-46 on Sunday afternoon at UD Arena.

The Flyers shot 37 percent (21 of 57) and were led by double-digit scoring from Jayla Scaife (17 points) and Lauren Cannatelli (14).

The Flyers also outrebounded the Cavaliers 53-35 and forced 15 turnovers.

Dayton led for the final three quarters and had answers each time the Cavaliers (1-3) got within five.

The final answer came with 2:06 remaining when Cannatelli made a 3-pointer to push the lead to 49-38.

Virginia got within 52-43 with 1:20 remaining, but Scaife, Cannatelli, Jenna Burdette and Alex Harris combined to hit nine of 10 free throws to ice it.

Virginia trimmed the lead to 29-24 in the third quarter, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Cannatelli and JaVonna Layfield pushed the lead back to 11.

Neither team got off to a great start shooting.

A 3-pointer by UD’s Maddy Dennis tied it at 9 at the end of the first quarter.

The Flyers and Cavs combined to hit just 8 of 29 shots in the first half, with Dennis’ 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining the lone 3 of the opening period.

After UVA took a 12-11 lead, Scaife took off.

The sophomore scored eight straight points to push the Flyers to a 20-14 lead.

Burdette’s three-point play gave Dayton its largest lead of the opening half, 27-16 with 2:30 remaining.

After a cold first quarter, Dayton shot 50 percent (9 of 18) in the second quarter and held a 29-16 rebounding advantage.

Dayton plays at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at Toledo.

The Flyers return home to play Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. Saturday.