The break for final exams came at the perfect time. Dayton didn’t play again until Dec. 20.
“When we had that 11-day finals break,” Green said Tuesday, “that’s when we really turned the corner on and off the floor with some team meetings and some work to get some things changed offensively to fit our personnel more.”
The Flyers never lost confidence in their new coach or her plan.
“We’re really close,” senior Kelley Austria said. “We decided we have to start our new season off. We’ve been playing well ever since.”
In their “new season,” the Flyers are 8-1. They beat Texas A&M 74-57 in their first game back from break. The Aggies have lost only one game since. They are 14-4 and rank 14th in the RPI. That victory is a big reason No. 74 Dayton is the highest-ranked Atlantic 10 team in the RPI.
Dayton lost its first A-10 game, 54-51 to La Salle, before the break, but has won five straight A-10 games since. It handed Saint Louis (14-4, 4-1) its first A-10 defeat Sunday, 78-67 on the road. The Billikens were the preseason favorite to win the conference after tying for the regular-season title last year.
“It was huge. Saint Louis has been a very good team,” Green said. “What they’ve done with their system and what Lisa (Stone) has done there, I have so much respect for them. That was a very, very good win for this group. Again it just shows what we’re capable of. We didn’t play great. We have a lot of things we need to continue to work on. We need to tighten up our offense and take care of the ball better, but we made toughness plays and we rebounded and got stops when we had to. I want our identity to be toughness and grit. That’s been consistent in this last stretch of games in how we’re pulling away and how we’re winning.”
Green took over the program Sept. 11, four days after the surprising resignation of Jim Jabir. He stepped down for health reasons after 13 seasons.
The short turnaround between her hiring and her move from Northwestern to Dayton played a part in the slow start.
“It wasn’t normal timing, but it’s not an excuse,” Green said. “You have to deal with what you’re working with in the time you’re given, but I needed to learn them and they needed to learn me. I needed to learn personnel and what was going to work offensively, defensively. I was learning that during games with a tough schedule, but it is what it is. I give credit to our girls. They continued to believe. They continued to buy into what we’re doing.”
The Flyers return to action at home at 3 p.m. Saturday against St. Joseph’s (6-11, 3-2).
SATURDAY’S GAME
St. Joseph’s at Dayton, 3 p.m.
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