If there was ever a time for a team to start playing its best basketball of the season, it would be now.

The UD women's basketball team has been doing just that with four straight wins, scoring more than 70 points in each of those wins. All of this success comes with four games left before the Atlantic 10 Tournament and right before Dayton's rematch with rival Xavier on Wednesday, Feb. 17. Head Coach Jim Jabir likes the momentum UD has gained since their blowout loss to Xavier.

"I think the momentum thing can be overstated sometimes, but obviously we have to be playing well and confidently and that's what I think we're doing right now," said Jabir. "We're really becoming more confident in what we do and I've been trying to tell the girls we really want to get better every day and every day you want to play a little better and keep improving."

The Flyers played two games in three days last week playing Fordham on Thursday, Feb. 11, and then UMass Saturday, Feb. 13.

UD took care of Fordham with a 30 point victory over the Rams, 72-42. The Flyers were led by a Daugherty, but this time it was freshman Kari Daugherty. She led the Flyers in scoring with 16 points, going 4 for 5 from behind the three-point line and 5 for 7 from the field. Daugherty also grabbed four rebounds and had two assists in 16 minutes of playing time.

"They left her [Kari Daugherty] open and she was really good at taking advantage of what they gave her," Jabir said. "I mean they left her open so often on the break and she was just really confident in shooting the ball, which is great."

Junior Aundrea Lindsey was another key part in the victory over Fordham with seven points and a career high six assists.

The Flyers then continued on their road trip, traveling to Amherst to face the Minutewomen of UMass. Dayton beat the Minutewomen, 74-60, in a game that was closer than the final score indicates.

The Flyers were involved in a tightly contested first half. UMass closed the first half on an 11-1 run in the final 2:30, shrinking Dayton's lead from 30-16 to 31-27 at halftime.

"The guys that were in the game lost sight of the plan and we had some breakdowns defensively," said Jabir. "They're a really good three-point-shooting team, and we had them buttoned up for most of the half and then we kind of let up for the couple minutes and that's when they were able to come back."

UD found themselves in a second half shootout as UMass tried desperately to come back. The Flyers were able to hold the Minutewomen off each run they made.

Five players scored in double figures for the Flyers with sophomore Patrice Lalor leading UD with 13 points. Elle Queen and Casey Nance had 10 points each while sophomore Justine Raterman had 12 points. Jabir said the Flyers were built for this kind of offensive output in every game they play.

"It's how we have played all year," Jabir said. "We use a lot of people, we spread it around, and we keep people fresh. We have a very non-selfish team, and we continue to attack by doing that."

Junior Kristen Daugherty became the newest member of the UD women's basketball 1,000 career point club with her 10 points against UMass.

"It's a real honor," Daugherty said. "I mean it's a tribute to my teammates for how good our teams have been just allowing me to have the success I've been able to have."

With 3:42 left in the game, Daugherty drove through the lane, missing the layup, but she grabbed the rebound and got the put-back to go in despite being fouled. Jabir then called a timeout to let Daugherty experience the moment.

"It was really a nice thing for him to do," Daugherty said. "Being able to know that I'm with a prestigious group of people, it was pretty special."

The two wins put Dayton at 20-5 on the season and 8-2 in the A-10 going into the Xavier rematch at UD Arena.

This is a must-win game if the Flyers have any hopes of winning the A-10. Jabir explained the importance of Wednesday's matchup.

"Obviously, if you don't beat them [Xavier] they're going to win the A-10, so we have to play much better than we did at their place," said Jabir.

Kari Daugherty also feels the importance of the Xavier game.

"We did not play our best against them the last time, and I think two wins this week will really build up our momentum for the next game against Xavier," Daugherty said. "So it could be a very huge game."

Although the A-10 title may be an uphill battle, the Flyers' dreams of being in the NCAA Tournament appear to soon be a reality. As of Saturday morning before Dayton's win against UMass, the Lady Flyers were ranked 32 in RPI, with a SOS (Strength of Schedule) in the Top 100, and wins over Georgetown (RPI 11) and Michigan State (RPI 20). Jabir thinks it's very likely that the Flyer Faithful will get to see the Lady Flyers playing in the Big Dance.

"I think if we continue to maintain, if we can win a majority of our remaining games, I think we have an excellent chance," said Jabir. "Like I said, though, there's a lot of good teams out there, and I think you're never really sure what's going to make the difference, but we've done everything that I think we need to do, and we have to continue to improve everyday and get better and that's what we're doing right now."