The University of Dayton women’s basketball team opened its 2026-27 season with a show at UD Arena on Thursday night, building an 11-point fourth-quarter lead before Illinois State rallied to force overtime and beat the Flyers 91-87, according to Dayton Athletics.
Dayton (0-1) led by nine points in the fourth quarter and by as many as 11, but Illinois State used a 14-0 run in the fourth quarter to take the lead late, according to Illinois State Athletics. The Flyers tied the game at 78-78 on a driving layup by Olivia Leung with 35 seconds left in regulation, according to Dayton Athletics, and the teams went to overtime tied at 78.
In the extra period, senior Fatima Ibrahim opened the scoring with a second-chance layup for Dayton, and Leung hit a three-pointer that kept the Flyers within 83-82, according to Dayton Athletics. But Trista Fayta, who scored five of her game-high 28 points in overtime, put the Redbirds ahead for good, according to Illinois State Athletics. Illinois State outscored Dayton 13-9 in overtime, and the game finished with 14 ties and 15 lead changes, according to Illinois State Athletics.
The overtime sequence swung twice before it settled. Illinois State’s Doneelah Nelson scored five of the Redbirds’ first seven points in the extra period to put them up 85-83, Dayton tied the game again at 85 with two minutes left, and only then did Fayta score five straight points to give Illinois State the lead for good, according to Illinois State Athletics. It was Illinois State’s first overtime win since a victory over Belmont last season, according to Illinois State Athletics.
Ibrahim delivered a career night in the loss, with 23 points and 18 rebounds — both new career highs — according to Dayton Athletics. Leung added 21 points, tying her career high, according to Dayton Athletics.
Senior Sophie Swanson, making her Dayton debut, played 37 minutes and 56 seconds and hit key three-pointers in the first and second quarters as the Flyers traded the lead with the Redbirds through a 42-39 halftime deficit, according to Dayton Athletics. Freshman Milee Smith scored her first collegiate points in the first quarter and played 34 minutes and 36 seconds in her debut, and freshman Brooke McLeod added early free throws and second-half baskets, according to Dayton Athletics.
The game was tight from the start. Illinois State led 21-19 after the first quarter, and the Redbirds were up 42-39 at halftime after a first half in which Smith put Dayton in front with a three-pointer off a turnover and Swanson scored on a drive and a second-chance three, according to Dayton Athletics. Dayton won the third quarter, outscoring Illinois State to take a 61-57 lead into the fourth, with Ibrahim converting a second-chance layup and four free throws in the period, according to Dayton Athletics.
As a team, Dayton recorded eight steals and scored 22 points off turnovers, according to Dayton Athletics — pressure that helped build the fourth-quarter lead the Flyers could not hold.
Illinois State (2-0) arrived as a proven opponent: the Redbirds went to the WNIT championship game last season, according to Dayton Athletics, and Fayta’s 28 points came on 10-of-16 shooting with eight rebounds and eight assists, according to Illinois State Athletics. Illinois State has now won the last three meetings in the series, according to Illinois State Athletics.
The opener also offered a first look at where Dayton starts from. The Flyers went 17-14 last season, according to the University of Dayton’s season preview, while Illinois State finished 24-14 overall and 13-7 in Missouri Valley Conference play before its WNIT championship-game run, according to Dayton Athletics. Thursday’s game was the seventh meeting in the series, which was tied 3-3 beforehand, according to Illinois State Athletics.
What we know — and what we’re still waiting on
What is confirmed is the opener itself: a one-possession game in the final minute of regulation, a career night from Ibrahim, and a Dayton debut class — Swanson, Smith and McLeod — that played heavy minutes right away, per both schools’ official reports. What one game cannot show is whether the Flyers’ late-game execution was an opening-night problem or a pattern; the answer starts with the next home game.
What happens next comes quickly. The Flyers return to UD Arena on Monday, Nov. 9, at 7 p.m. for a retro throwback night against Penn State, according to Dayton Athletics. Illinois State returns home to host Augustana on Saturday, according to Illinois State Athletics.
Related coverage: Findlay’s men’s soccer team upset Tiffin 2-1 to reach the G-MAC championship, and Marietta College volleyball swept Thiel to close its regular season at 16-10.