Semifinal Saturday Live Blog....

SEMIFINAL #2: #2 Dayton 74, #3 Duquesne 60

Kelley Austria made her presence known at the Atlantic 10 Tournament, leading the Flyers with 20 points and four steals as Dayton advanced to their third tournament championship game in four years with a win over Duquesne.

The Dukes stayed stride for stride with the Flyers in the first half, only down two at the break at 32-30. But Saicha Grant-Allen scored all eight of her points in the second half as the Flyers began to separate themselves from Duquesne.

Deva'Nyar Workman's basket with 13:04 left cut the deficit back to two, but Dayton would pull away from there for good, using Austria free throws, a three point shot from Ally Malott, and buckets from Grant-Allen and Amber Deane to up the lead to nine at 51-42.

The rest of the way, the Dukes played from behind, and didn't have enough spark to reel in the Flyers.

Duquesne finishes Atlantic 10 play at 13-5; they are 21-10 overall, and are expected to receive a WNIT bid a week from Monday. Dayton is now 16-2 in Atlantic 10 games, 25-5 overall, and will face #1 George Washington in Sunday's 1:30pm Championship Game. The Colonials defeated the Flyers in both of their regular season meetings.


SEMIFINAL #1: #1 George Washington 72, #4 Fordham 60:

Physicality was the rule on the Richmond Coliseum court as the top-seeded Colonials fought off a pesky Fordham team that, even after losing their on-court leader to fouls with six plus minutes to go, continued to battle to the end in defense of their tournament title of a year ago.

Jonquel Jones recorded another strong double-double with 16 points and 15 rebounds for George Washington, now 28-3 overall, while Hannah Schaible went for 16 as well, a perfect six-of-six from the free throw line. Chakecia Miller added eleven for the Colonials, who shot 53.8% in the second half.

Fordham shot 38% in both halves, consistent, but not good enough to overcome George Washington having four players in double figures. Tiffany Ruffin, who led the Rams with 14 points, discussed in the post-game press conference the importance of keeping her teammates on the court focused even after the loss of Tapio.

Samantha Clark led Fordham in the first half, but picked up her third personal foul to end her flow of offensive production, and, as head coach Stephanie Gaitley pointed out after the game, forced her Rams to "go small" which was difficult against the tall powers of Jones and Caira Washington, who had ten points and eight rebounds.

The Rams are 20-11 and likely will get a bid to the WNIT. George Washington now moves to their first Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship game since 2006 against either Dayton or Duquesne.


SEMIFINAL #1 AT THE HALF: #1 George Washington 33, #4 Fordham 25:

An extremely physical game has taken its toll on the defending tournament champions as Fordham is saddled with major foul trouble at intermission. Samantha Clark, who leads the Rams with nine points, also has three fouls. G'mrice Davis also has three fouls while Emily Tapi and Hannah Missry each have two. Danielle Burns has six points and two rebounds off the bench for Fordham.

The top-seeded Colonials are led by Atlantic 10 Player of The Year Jonquel Jones, closing in on a double-double with eight points and nine rebounds. Chakecia Miller has seven points, while fellow First Teamer Caira Washington has six points and six boards.

The winner advances to Sunday's 1:30pm Championship Game, where an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament will be up for grabs. Awaiting this winner, the winner of the second semifinal between Dayton and Duquesne.

NOTE: Three of the four teams in this year's semifinals were also in the semifinals last year in the inaugural tournament held at the Coliseum. Last season, Dayton eliminated George Washington and Fordham defeated St. Bonaventure on Semifinal Saturday. Duquesne will make its first semifinal appearance since 2006 later today.