Trista Fayta's 28 Points Lift Illinois State Past Dayton 91-87 in Overtime Despite Fatima Ibrahim's Career Night

DAYTON, Ohio. For six and a half minutes of the fourth quarter, Dayton looked like it had opening night handled. Fatima Ibrahim had just finished a layup to make it 71-60, UD Arena was loud, and the Flyers were one more stop away from turning a back and forth opener into a comfortable win.

Then Illinois State scored 14 straight points, and everything about the night changed.

The Redbirds rode that run, and 28 points from Trista Fayta, to a 91-87 overtime win over the Flyers on Thursday, Nov. 5. Ibrahim was spectacular in the loss, posting career highs with 23 points and 18 rebounds, and junior Olivia Leung tied her career high with 21. It was not enough against a team that played in last season's WNIT championship game and showed exactly why.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab), Dayton's recap (opens in a new tab) and Illinois State's recap (opens in a new tab).

A track meet from the opening tip

Illinois State came out firing. The Redbirds scored the first six points and pushed their lead to 17-8 midway through the first quarter on a three-point play by Hannah Chicken. Dayton steadied itself behind two of its newcomers. Freshman Milee Smith scored her first college points on a drive, senior Sophie Swanson got going in her Flyers debut, and Swanson's 3 from the top of the key with 10 seconds left cut the gap to 21-19 after one.

The second quarter was a slugfest of runs. Dayton opened it with seven straight points to take a 26-23 lead, with Smith hitting a 3 off a turnover and Swanson finishing at the rim. Fayta answered with a 3 that put the Redbirds back in front, then hit two more in the quarter, including one as time expired to send Illinois State into the break up 42-39.

That was the theme for 45 minutes. The game had 14 ties and 15 lead changes, according to Illinois State, and the only double-digit lead of the night belonged to Dayton, briefly, in the fourth quarter.

Ibrahim owns the glass

Ibrahim was the best player on the floor for long stretches. The senior pulled down 18 rebounds, seven of them on the offensive end, and kept Dayton alive on possessions that looked dead. She went 8 of 15 from the field and 7 of 9 at the free throw line, blocked two shots and played through foul trouble in only 29 minutes.

Her work inside set up everything else. The Flyers took their first real control in the third quarter, going up 51-49 on a pair of free throws and then stretching it to 57-53 when Ibrahim scored on a putback and then hit four straight foul shots. Leung's drive with 28 seconds left in the quarter kept Dayton ahead 61-57 going into the fourth.

Leung was the steadiest scorer Dayton had. She made 9 of 16 shots and 3 of 4 from deep to match her career best of 21 points, adding seven rebounds and three assists in 35 minutes. Swanson finished with 17 points on 7 of 19 shooting and played nearly 38 minutes in her first game in a Dayton uniform. Smith added 13 points and eight rebounds in more than 34 minutes in her college debut.

The 14-0 run

The Flyers started the fourth quarter on fire. Leung hit a jumper, Brooke McLeod scored in the paint, Smith added a layup, and Ibrahim ran the floor for a fast break layup. When Ibrahim scored again with 6:41 to play, Dayton led 71-60.

Illinois State's answer was relentless, and all of it came at the rim or at the free throw line. Fayta and Chicken scored on fast breaks. Nevaeh Thomas and Chicken got to the line and made four straight free throws. Thomas scored on a jumper inside, and Chicken's layup with 2:56 left gave the Redbirds a 72-71 lead. Fayta added another layup in transition, and just like that the run was 14-0 and the visitors were up 74-71.

Dayton did not fold. Leung hit a 3 off an Ibrahim assist with 2:12 left to tie it at 74. Thomas then scored twice in a row in the paint for a 78-74 Redbirds lead with 1:11 to go. Ibrahim found room inside off a Leung feed with 55 seconds left, and after an Illinois State turnover, Leung drove for the tying layup with 20 seconds remaining.

The Flyers got one more chance after Molly O'Riordan came up with a steal with five seconds left. At the horn it looked like Dayton had won it on a long 3, but Illinois State's recap notes that the shot was waved off after review, and the teams went to overtime tied at 78.

Fayta takes over in overtime

Ibrahim's putback 28 seconds into the extra period gave Dayton the first lead of overtime, and Leung's 3 with 3:17 left made it 83-82. Grace Nelson answered for the Redbirds with a 3 on the next trip, part of a stretch in which she scored five of Illinois State's first seven points of overtime.

Smith tied it at 85 with two free throws with 1:59 left. Then Fayta made the shot of the night, a 3 with 1:31 left that put Illinois State up 88-85. Ibrahim cut it to one with two free throws at the 1:09 mark, and Dayton got the ball back after Nelson missed a 3.

The Flyers could not cash it in. Jayda Johnson was whistled for a foul and a turnover with 33 seconds left, and Ibrahim fouled Fayta with 11 seconds to go. That was Ibrahim's fifth foul, ending her night, and Fayta made both free throws for a 90-87 lead. Swanson's 3 for the tie missed, and Chicken split two free throws to close it.

The Redbirds' big three

Fayta did everything. She shot 10 of 16 from the field and 4 of 5 from 3 for a career high 28 points and added eight rebounds and eight assists in 44 minutes. Illinois State said she is the only player in the country this season with at least 28 points, eight rebounds and eight assists in a game.

Thomas added 20 points and nine rebounds, also playing all but one minute, and made 6 of 7 free throws. Chicken, a transfer, posted a 19 point, 13 rebound double-double. Danyella Mporokoso added 11 points.

The Redbirds shot 46.5 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3 and won the rebounding battle 47-46. Dayton forced 18 turnovers and turned them into 22 points, but it shot 42.3 percent overall and just 7 of 24 from deep. That gap from beyond the arc, eight made 3s against seven on far fewer attempts, decided a game this close.

What it means for Dayton

Losses like this one sting, but they also tell you something. Dayton went toe to toe with a team that played for a postseason title last spring, and it did it with a freshman and a transfer each playing more than 34 minutes. The Flyers had 22 points off turnovers and eight steals, and their best interior player just put up a stat line that will look good on any scouting report this season.

The problems were fixable ones. Dayton missed 17 of its 24 3-point attempts, and it got outscored in the paint during the one stretch that mattered most. Keeping Ibrahim on the floor, out of foul trouble, will be a priority all year.

Illinois State improved to 2-0 and now leads the all-time series with Dayton 4-3, with three straight wins over the Flyers. It was the Redbirds' first overtime win since a Feb. 20 victory over Belmont last season. Dayton fell to 0-1 before 1,752 fans.

The Flyers bounced back four nights later. Read our recap of Dayton's 77-71 win over Penn State. For the men's side at UD Arena, see the Flyers' overtime loss to Northern Illinois and how nearly 24,000 fans packed UD Arena and the Nutter Center on opening night. For more Dayton coverage, visit our Dayton team page.

Sources: official box score, Dayton Athletics and Illinois State Athletics.

Photo: Dayton Athletics