Rhode Island Starters
Phillips, Dutat, Touré, Debroise, Davis

Dayton Starters
Lear, Jones, Smith, Wolf, Wheeler

How it Happened
No. 6 Rhode Island pulled away late to fend off a spirited challenge from No. 11 Dayton, beating the Flyers 70-57 in the second round of the Atlantic 10 Championship.

The game was a far cry from the regular-season finale just six days ago, when the Rams (19-13) beat Dayton (12-18) by 35 points. This time, the Flyers slowed down Rhody's offense, limiting the Rams to 36.0 percent from the field (18-of-50) through the first three quarters.

Rhode Island hit four of its first five shot attempts in the fourth quarter. Mayé Touré hit a jumper in the paint and Sophie Phillips got a steal and fed Dee Dee Davis for a 3-pointer. The quick spurt opened the biggest lead of the game for either side as URI took a 60-52 lead and forced Dayton to call a timeout.

After the timeout, both teams were scoreless for a couple minutes before Teisha Hyman drained a 3-pointer. After Dayton got a layup from Mariah Perez, Hyman hit a driving layup, pushing the lead into double figures, 65-54. Rhode Island stayed in control from there, holding Dayton to 1-for-10 over the final four minutes.

With the win, Rhode Island advanced to face No. 3 Saint Joseph's in the tournament quarterfinals.

Inside the Box Score

• The game was the second in a six-day span between the Rams and Flyers. Rhody defeated Dayton 77-42 in the regular-season finale on March 2.
• This was Rhode Island's third straight win for the Rams over Dayton. Before last season, the Flyers had won 20 in a row in the series.
• Guard Dee Dee Davis had a double-double. She finished with a game with 23 points and 11 rebounds, both of which were game highs. Davis added four assists.
• It was the second double-double of the season for Davis.
• Guard Ines Debroise had 10 points, four rebounds and three assists.
• Guard Teisha Hyman had 13 points and five rebounds off the bench.
• Forward Mayé Touré just missed a double-double, finishing with nine points and 10 rebounds.
• Guard Sophie Phillips had five points and four rebounds. She tied the single-season program record of 82 3-pointers first set by Charise Wilson in 2015-16.
• Rhode Island outrebounded Dayton 48-36. The teams both had 21 rebounds in the first half.
• Dayton had a 36-24 edge on points in the paint.

Up Next
Rhode Island advanced to the Atlantic 10 Quarterfinals, where it will face No. 3 Saint Joseph's Friday at 7:30 p.m. The game will stream on ESPN+.