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1/14/2026 | 7:00 PM
Jan. 14 (Wed) / 7:00 PM
Richmond
BRONX, N.Y. – The University of Dayton women’s basketball team traveled to New York Saturday where it defeated Fordham University, 66-58, in Atlantic 10 action.
The Flyers (9-7, 2-3 A-10) earned a big road victory while the Rams (8-8, 0-5 A-10) still look for their first league win.
GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Quarter: Dayton 18, Fordham 18
Fordham won the tip and worked quickly to score in the opening eight seconds with a pullup jumper, taking the initial lead.
Senior Nayo Lear answered though with a jumper of her own less than a minute later to put UD on the board.
Lear did the same thing at the 6:47 mark to even the score once again, 4-4.
By the media break, the Flyers led 8-6 with junior Fatima Ibrahim coming out of the timeout with a free throw to complete the and-one.
Ibrahim continued to pound the ball inside and scored the next three points to make it an 11-7 UD lead.
Dayton then went cold from the field over the next few minutes without a point as Fordham took the lead back, 13-11 with just over two on the clock.
Lear broke free again to even the score at 13-13 with her fourth basket and time running down in the first. She added another three and a field goal to give her 13 points in the opening quarter.
2nd Quarter: Dayton 31, Fordham 31
The defenses settled in and upped the intensity early on in the second quarter with neither team able to score in the opening two minutes.
The physicality led to foul trouble for starters on both teams.
The Rams pulled ahead by four, 22-18, with just over six minutes to go in the half and the Flyers looking for their first basket.
With 5:24 in the game, Ibrahim gathered the pass from junior Jayda Johnson for the basket, ending the drought.
Ibrahim had all the points in the second for Dayton until a putback by grad student Maliyah Johnson at the 2:58 mark.
Fordham managed to take a five-point lead with under two to go, 29-24.
Graduate student Nicole Stephens had six seconds to get down the court and hit a jumper at the buzzer to tie the game up at 31-31.
Dayton outrebounded Fordham 26-16 in the first half and a 12-3 second-chance points advantage.
3rd Quarter: Dayton 44, Fordham 48
Sophomore Molly O’Riordan found herself open at the top of the key on the first possession and nailed a big three to get the Flyers off on the right foot.
The two teams traded buckets over the next few minutes with neither team willing to give up momentum.
The score remained within a field goal, one way or the other, as we approached the midway point of the third.
With 4:53 to go, the Flyers held a 41-37 advantage as the Rams were on a 2+ minute scoring drought.
Fordham nailed a three after the timeout though and added another bucket to take a 42-41 lead with under four to go. That turned into a 9-2 run, putting Dayton in a four-point deficit.
The Flyers went the final 6:13 of the quarter without a field goal.
4th Quarter: Dayton 66, Fordham 58
The pace was slow early on in the fourth with both teams trying to take control of the game.
As the clock ticked under eight minutes left, the tempo picked up and Fordham pushed its margin to six, 52-46.
Lear was able to get a bucket and drew the foul as the Flyers hoped to fight their way back into the lead.
Fordham called a timeout with 6:16 on the clock and a 52-50 lead with Dayton turning the ball over and having possession.
Lear tied the game up at 52-52 with a pullup and the time ticking under five.
With 3:22 to go, sophomore Olivia Leung hit a big three to give UD its first lead since the 5:09 mark in the third.
Fordham answered though and tied it back up at 55-55.
Lear then put UD up once again with a nice drive to the basket. That put UD up two with just over a minute left.
At the :32 mark, Lear drove and got the and-one to give her a new career-high 30 points.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
30 – Nayo Lear finished with a career-high 30 points on 11-of-22 shooting to go with five rebounds and four assists.
1st – Saturday’s victory was the first for head coach Tamika Williams-Jeter at Fordham and the first win for the Flyers at Rose Hill Gym since 2022.
6’s – Nicole Stephens finished the game with 10 points, but was 6-of-6 at the free throw line and had six rebounds.
12 and 11 – Fatima Ibrahim recorded her second double-double as a Flyer with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
51 – As a team, Dayton had a season-high 51 rebounds compared to 37 for Fordham.
UP NEXT
The Flyers will return home to host the University of Richmond Wednesday, Jan. 14 at 7 p.m. at UD Arena.
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