Dayton prevails in double overtime to down St. John's
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Andrea Hoover scored 24 points to lead the seventh-seed Dayton Flyers to a 96-90 double-overtime victory over the 10th- seed St. John's Red Storm in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Carnesecca Arena.
The 24 points were a career-high for Hoover as Dayton (28-2) earned its first- ever NCAA Tournament victory. Kelley Austria also had a career-high with 21 points, Samantha Mackay chipped in 14 points and six assists and Olivia Applewhite registered a double-double with 13 points and 16 rebounds. The Flyers will battle second-seed Kentucky in the second round.
Nadirah McKenith had a double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds before fouling out in the first overtime for St. John's (18-13). Shenneika Smith added 18 points, Ashley Perez had 17 off the bench and Amber Thompson contributed 13 as well for the Red Storm.
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Going into the locker room at halftime Dayton held a controlling 43-30 lead after shooting 51.5 percent from the floor and hitting 7-of-12 shots from beyond the arc.
Trailing by 13 points with under five minutes left in regulation, St. Johns ripped off a 19-6 run down the stretch capped by a pair of free-throws from Amber Thompson with 14 seconds remaining that knotted the game at 73-73. On the next possession Dayton got a layup from Mackay. The Red Storm took over with six seconds on the clock which was enough time for McKenith to get off a game-tying shot that forced overtime.
Austria missed a 3-point attempt with the Flyers down two in the last minute of the first overtime. However they got the ball back after McKenith was called for an offensive foul on the other end that sent her from the game. With 16 seconds left Amber Deane sank a jumper to tie the game once again. St. John's had a chance to win at the end of the period but Aliyyah Handford missed a jumper and time expired.
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Neither team scored in the first minute and a half of the second overtime. Brittany Wilson stopped the dry spell for Dayton with a 3-pointer which began the 12-6 spurt the Flyers used to close out the victory.