Dayton women’s basketball program will travel to Italy this summer

Flyers will play three games against professional players in August

The Dayton Flyers women’s basketball team will play three games against professional players in Italy in August during its first overseas trip since 2013.

Dayton coach Shauna Green said the team will visit Rome, Florence, Venice and Lake Como in a trip that lasts from Aug. 5-15. The Flyers took a similar trip in August 2013 with stops in Rome, Venice, Pisa, Lake Como and Verona.

“It’s a country you really can’t go wrong with,” Green said Monday.

» CONTRACT NEWS: Green receives extension through 2024

The entire 2018-19 roster will take part in the trip, including four newcomers: Vanderbilt transfer Erin Whalen and freshmen Kyla WhiteheadElla Skeens and Amari Davidson.

All the newcomers will join the returning players on campus when the second summer session begins at UD on June 25.

“Because we’re going to Italy, and it’s almost like a never-ending season, we’re going to be really smart,” Green said. “I don’t want to burn them out. I want them to be ready to go in the fall and not be dreading it because we’ve been working out for months. We’ll do a lot of individual work this summer, and as late July comes and we get our 10 practices, we’ll start getting into team stuff. This trip will be important for us because we have so many new pieces. We’re just going to be so different. We have a good core group returning, but you have a new point guard and a lot of new pieces coming in. The timing worked out perfectly for this trip.

» RELATED: Green excited about Dayton’s future

Dayton finished 23-7 last season, which was Green's second as head coach, and won the Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season championship for the second straight year. The Flyers played in the NCAA tournament for the eighth time in nine years.

Dayton graduated three senior starters: Jenna Burdette, JaVonna Layfield and Alex Harris.

In addition to the newcomers, the team also adds two transfers who sat out last season: redshirt sophomore forward Julia Chandler (Syracuse) and redshirt sophomore guard Araion Bradshaw (South Carolina).

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