DAYTON - The University of Dayton women's basketball team will begin its NCAA Division I Tournament on Saturday at 4 p.m. ET in Louisville, Ky. against the fifth-seeded Tennessee Volunteers.

The Flyers are the No. 12 seed and take on the eight-time national champions Tennessee at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
Dayton returns to the NCAA Tournament for the seventh time in eight years after winning the regular season and tournament championships for the Atlantic 10. The Flyers enter the tournament with a 22-9 record overall and 13-3 A-10 mark. UD rides a four-game winning streak under first-year head coach Shauna Green.

As a team, the Flyers rank 13th in the nation in field goal percentage defense, holding opposing teams to 35 percent from the field. Dayton is outscoring opponents by a +6.6 margin to go with a +5.0 rebounding advantage. UD shoots 39.4 percent from the floor, 34.5 percent from three point range, and 68.3 percent from the free throw line.

The Flyers are led by redshirt senior and A-10 Defensive Player of the Year Kelley Austria, who is averaging 12.3 points and 3.0 rebounds per game. Junior Jenna Burdette is coming off a stellar A-10 Tournament and chips in 12.2 points and 4.7 assists per game. Senior Saicha Grant-Allen is contributing 10.0 points and 8.8 rebounds each contest as well.

SCOUTING TENNESSEE
The Flyers' first opponent in the NCAA Tournament will be the fifth-seed Tennessee Lady Volunteers. UT heads into the weekend with a 19-11 record overall and 10-6 SEC record.  The Lady Vols lost their lone neutral site contest this year in the SEC Tournament to Alabama. Head coach Holly Warlick is in her fifth season at UT with a 127-45 record overall. This is the fifth straight NCAA Tournament appearance under Coach Warlick.

Overall, the Vols led the SEC in defensive rebounds and fewest fouls per game. UT averages 73.9 points per game while giving up just 65.9 to opponents. The Vols shoot 43.3 percent from the floor, 34.6 percent from behind the arc, and 75.1 percent from the charity stripe.

Leading the way is redshirt junior Diamond DeShields, who is averaging 17.2 points, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. Redshirt junior Mercedes Russell has been just as effective with 16.3 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds each contest as well. Junior Jaime Nared rounds out the scoring leaders with 15.5 points per game.

LAST TIME OUT
Dayton won the 2017 Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship on March 5 in Richmond, Va., with a 70-56 victory over Duquesne. The Flyers trailed by nine at the start of the second quarter, but outscored the Dukes 16-7 over the next 10 minutes as UD powered its way to win No. 22 on the season.

Tennessee suffered a 72-64 loss to Alabama in the opening game of the SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C. The Lady Vols shot 35.8 percent from the field and hit just one three while the Crimson Tide shot 42.4 percent from the floor. UT was swept by Alabama on the season.

THE SERIES
The Flyers and Lady Vols have played just twice previously, in 2010 and 1986. Dayton fell to Tennessee in both contests, including the last match-up in 2010 in the NCAA Tournament in Knoxville.

POSTSEASON EXPECTATION
The Flyers have made 10-consecutive postseason appearances between the NCAA Division I Tournament and the Women's National Invitational Tournament. Here are the past 10 campaigns
Year    Record    Postseason
2016-17    22-9    NCAA Tournament
2015-16    14-15    WNIT - 1st Round
2014-15    27-6    NCAA Tournament - Elite Eight
2013-14    23-8    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2012-13    28-3    NCAA Tournament - 2nd Round
2011-12    23-7    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2010-11    21-12    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2009-10    25-8    NCAA Tournament - 1st Round
2008-09    21-14    WNIT - 2nd Round
2007-08    25-9    WNIT - 1st Round

DAYTON WINS SECOND EVER A-10 TOURNEY
The Flyers won their second ever Atlantic 10 Tournament title this season with a 70-54 win over Duquesne in the championship game on March 5. Dayton also won the tournament in 2012. With the victory, the Flyers clinched an automatic berth in the 2017 NCAA Division I Tournament.

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE
Junior Jenna Burdette earned Most Oustanding Performer honors at the A-10 Tournament to go with All-Tournament Team accolades. Joining Burdette on the five-member All-Tournament squad were teammates Saicha Grant-Allen and Kelley Austria.

FLYERS WIN THIRD A-10 TITLE
Dayton won its third A-10 regular season title by clinching a share with George Washington this season. The Flyers had previously won championships in 2013 and 2014. Because of the tie-breaker format, Dayton entered the A-10 Tournament as the top seed.

AUSTRIA NAMED DEFENSIVE POY
The Atlantic 10 Conference announced its annual women's basketball awards, naming Dayton's Kelley Austria the Defensive Player of the Year. The Beavercreek, Ohio, native led the Flyers with 47 steals during the regular season, often assigned to the opposing team's best offensive threat.

A-10 HONORS
Along with Austria's Defensive POY award, she was also named All-Conference Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Joining her was senior Saicha Grant-Allen, who was also Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Junior Jenna Burdette was the third Flyer on the All-Conference Second Team while freshman Jayla Scaife was named All-Rookie.

WHAT A STRETCH
From Dec. 29, 2016 to Feb. 12, 2017, the Flyers won 11-straight games, which was the program's longest winning streak since March 9, 2013, when Dayton won 15 in a row during a 28-3 season.

GRANT-ALLEN REWRITES RECORD BOOKS
Senior Saicha Grant-Allen set a new school record on Feb. 1 at Davidson with her 264th career offensive rebound. She moved into first all-time in Dayton history, passing Cyndi Stull (1999-2004). Grant-Allen leads the A-10 in that category this season with 290.

CANNATELLI GOES FOR 7
During the same game and on the same play that Grant-Allen tied the record for offensive rebounds, sophomore Lauren Cannatelli tied the record for most three pointers in a game by hitting her seventh of the contest. She finished the game with a career-high 27 points and went 7-for-11 from deep. She tied the record last achieved by teammate and current Flyer Christy Macioce on Feb. 17, 2016 against Massachusetts.

AUSTRIA SCORES 1,000TH POINT
Dayton redshirt senior Kelley Austria joined the 1,000-point club against Duquesne on Jan. 10, 2017 after her 18-point performance in the victory. She is the 24th Flyer in program history to reach that mark as she moved into the Top 25 all-time in scoring at Dayton with 1,188 points. Austria achieved that mark in just 105 career games.

ALL-TOURNAMENT SQUAD
Dayton had a pair of players named to the All-Tournament team at the Florida Sunshine Classic. Junior guard Jenna Burdette and senior center Saicha Grant-Allen received the honors. Grant-Allen was also named All-Tournament team at the Cavalier Classic, joined by junior JaVonna Layfield.

GRANT-ALLEN EARNS A-10 PLAYER OF THE WEEK HONORS
Senior center Saicha Grant-Allen was named A-10 Player of the Week on Dec. 26 after averaging a double-double with 14.0 points and 10.0 rebounds in the two-win stretch at the Florida Sunshine Classic. The Ontario native highlighted the week with a 17-point, 16-rebound performance against ODU.

NEVER BEFORE SEEN
Dayton played a number of opponents this season the Flyers had not faced in program history. UD took on for the first time this season Georgia Tech, Creighton, Morgan State, Texas A&M, Liberty, and Virginia.

SCAIFE NAMED A-10 CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Dayton freshman Jayla Scaife was named Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week on Nov. 21 after averaging 13.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in her first two collegiate games. The Muncie, Ind., native capped off the week with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the overtime win at Princeton.

GREEN GETS FIRST WIN AS DAYTON HEAD COACH
On Nov. 16, 2016, head coach Shauna Green earned her first Division I victory at the helm of the Flyers with an 83-64 win over Wisconsin in Madison, Wis. It was her 30th career win as a head coach after two previous years in charge of Loras College.

PRESEASON POLL
Dayton was picked to finish in a tie for second place in the Atlantic 10 Preseason poll, trailing only conference-favorite Saint Louis. The Flyers tied with Duquesne and were picked ahead of George Washington, VCU, and Fordham.

JUST FLYERS PLEASE
When referring to the University of Dayton women's basketball team (or any other Dayton women's athletic team), we ask that you refer to us simply as "Flyers." Not "Lady Flyers".

FOLLOW THE FLYERS ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Fans can follow the official Dayton women's basketball social media outlets by liking Facebook.com/DaytonWBB, on Twitter by following @DaytonWBB and DaytonWeAreOne on Instagram. Hashtags for Flyer women's basketball include #UDWBB, OneWay and GoFlyers.

NEW LEADER
Shauna Green was hired as the new Dayton women's basketball head coach on Sept. 11, 2016. She takes over for former head coach Jim Jabir, who was at the helm of the Flyers for 13 seasons. Green served as an assistant on Coach Jabir's staff at Dayton from 2012-15. In 2015-16, Green was an assistant on Joe McKeown's staff at Northwestern. She is in her third season as a collegiate head coach after having previously led Loras College.

AT THE BUZZER
Dayton earned a late victory at St. Bonaventure on Jan. 4, 2017 with a game-winning three-pointer by senior Christy Macioce with eight seconds on the clock to defeat the Bonnies 62-60. It was the first home Atlantic 10 loss for SBU since Feb. 25, 2015, spanning nine games.

FLYERS IN REGULAR SEASON LEAGUE PLAY
Dayton has won 74 of its last 92 regular season Atlantic 10 games (.810), a streak that dates back to a 97-46 win over Rhode Island on Jan. 7, 2012, and includes a perfect 14-0 mark in conference play during the 2012-13 season.

FACING THE BEST
The Flyers played defending national champions and second-ranked Connecticut on Nov. 22 in Storrs, Conn., suffering a loss to the Huskies, who won their 79th-straight game. UD played six teams this season that competed in the NCAA Tournament last year, all on the road or at neutral sites. The Flyers have faced the 113th toughest strength of schedule in Division I this season.

70'S THE MAGIC NUMBER
Since the 2009-10 season, Dayton is 132-14 (.901) when scoring 70 or more points, including 10-2 in 2015-16. During the 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the Flyers only lost one game per season when scoring at least 70 points, and dropped only two games in 2009-10 when reaching that mark.
2016-17    11-1
2015-16    10-2
2014-15    24-2
2013-14    19-4
2012-13    21-1
2011-12    13-1
2010-11    15-1
2009-10    19-2
TOTAL    132-14

THREE POINTS OF EXCELLENCE
Dayton has hit at least one three-point shot in 506 consecutive games dating back to Jan. 2, 2001, the longest streak in the Atlantic 10 Conference and one of the top streaks in the nation. The Flyers made a program-record 15 three-point field goals against Buffalo in the Connecticut World Vision Classic on Nov. 25, 2011. Dayton tied the record with 15 vs. Wright State on Nov. 28, 2012.

SPEAKING OF THREES...
The Flyers hit 12 three-pointers against Texas A&M on Dec. 20 in Winter Park, Fla. en route to a 74-57 victory over the Aggies. That total was the most ever given up by Texas A&M in program history. The previous high of 11 was held by Kansas State and TCU.

WE'VE GOT AN AUDIENCE
On Dec. 9 this season, the Flyers played in front of 9,007 fans at UD Arena while hosting Toledo. The season-best crowd was due to the overwhelming success of UD's annual School Day game, a chance for local school-aged children to take a field trip with the Flyers. With a home attendance average of 2,674, Dayton ranked 44th out of 349 DI programs.

NATIONAL TEAM EXPERIENCE
Three Flyers have experience playing for their respective national teams.
• Sophomore Maddy Dennis was a member of the 2015 U-19 Australian National Team that won a bronze medal at the 2015 U-19 FIBA World Championship. She was also a member of the 2013 and 2014 U-17 Australian National Team.
• Senior Saicha Grant-Allen most recently was a member of Canada's Senior B Women's Basketball National Team that claimed the 36th Annual William Jones Cup in Taipei, Taiwan, during the summer of 2014.
• Senior Andrijana Cvitkovic played for the Croatian U18 National Team during the summer of 2012.