The women's basketball team started the season with a goal of winning the Atlantic 10 Tournament. And while the Flyers didn't accomplish that goal last weekend, they still have a chance at accomplishing their ultimate goal: earning a bid to the NCAA Tournament.

The Flyers spent last weekend in Maryland playing in the A-10 tournament. They had earned a second seed coming into the tournament with a 23-6 record for the regular season and an 11-3 conference record. After defeating St. Bonaventure 83-66 in the quarterfinals, Dayton took on third seeded Temple in the final four.

The Flyers dropped a 67-64 decision in overtime to the Owls. After starting the extra period on a 7-2 run, Dayton gave up an 8-0 run to Temple to end the game.

Sophomore Casey Nance, like the rest of the team, was disappointed about not winning the A-10 Tournament, but was determined to use it as a learning experience.

"We definitely went into the A-10 Tournament with the goal of winning, but I still think we had a great year," said Nance. "This is just one loss that isn't going to determine our success from here on out, so we just have to keep practicing and getting better to fix the things that went wrong yesterday and it can make us even better for the NCAA Tournament."

The selection committee for the men's tournament makes their decision public Sunday, March 14. The women have to wait until the next day to see the bracket for their tournament. This means the Flyers have almost an entire week to wait and think about whether there was something more they could have done to get the program's first ever NCAA tournament bid.

"We know we put in the work this year to deserve to go to the tournament, but there's still this little shadow of doubt in our minds," Nance said.

The team finds themselves in a similar position as last year. After the 2008-09 season, the Flyers were unsure if they were in or out of the tournament. Sophomore Patrice Lalor almost drove herself crazy during the week of waiting.

"It was nerve-racking," Lalor said. "We didn't know if we were going to make it. We didn't know what to think. We really wanted to get in, but we just weren't sure. So we just had to wait and see. I know I was checking the bracketology site every other day to see if we were in or not."

That experience has mellowed the Flyers for this year.

"I feel like a lot of us are calm," said Lalor. "We feel that we have a good chance of making it, so we're not really worried about being nervous about whether we made it or not. We feel that we have a pretty good chance, so now we just have to wait."

The wait is also a good chance for the Flyers to refuel and get ready for a tournament run, according to junior Kristin Daugherty.

"Getting rest and recuperating because it kind of was, even though we only played two games, a long weekend," she said. "After that getting refocused and working on our defense and getting back to what won us so many games during the regular season."

While winning the A-10 Tournament and earning the automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament would have been the preferred way for the Flyers to lock up the postseason, this team still feels confident they will be in the dance.

They are just letting their resume do the talking. With wins over three RPI Top-50 teams (Georgetown, Michigan State, and Temple), the Flyers feel good about their chances. According to Lalor, the Flyers have at least a 90 percent chance to be dancing next week. Coach Jabir isn't willing to go that high just yet.

"I like our numbers," said Jabir. "I like our body of work and I like what we've done, but I don't want to say we're a lock. We have a good chance."

That's great news for senior Kendel Ross, who came from Canada to UD for this kind of opportunity.

"That's what I came to the University of Dayton to do," Ross said. "The fact that we have an extremely good chance of getting there is exciting to me."

Jabir also realizes how big making the big dance would be for his lone senior.

"I think it's huge," said Jabir. "She came to Dayton for the NCAA Tournament. She could have gone to schools that visit the NCAA Tournament regularly, but she wanted to mold something, go some place where she could make a difference."