Jan. 3, 2005

Box Score

DAYTON, OH - - University of Dayton women's basketball team fell to rival Xavier University, 64-51, Monday night in the Atlantic 10 opener for both teams. Sophomore forward Jennifer Strong paced UD with a season-high 12 points, while junior forward Cara Wright finished with nine points and nine rebounds for the Flyers (6-6). Miranda Green led Xavier (7-4) with 18 points.

Junior guard Terri Ramsey added seven points while freshman guard Ashley Armstrong added a career-high seven points for the Flyers. Tara Boothe finished with 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Musketeers.

The Flyers opened with two quick baskets from Strong and Wright, and UD stretched the lead to 14-6 behind six points from Strong.

Dayton and Xavier traded buckets before a quick surge from the Musketeers brought them within four at 18-14 with 7:06 to go in the first. A three by Ramsey and an inside bucket from Katie Butler gave UD its largest lead of the game at nine.

But the Musketeers trimmed the lead to six and then Chelsea Chowning cut it in half with a three at the buzzer as UD took a 27-24 lead into the break. Strong led all scorers at the half with eight points,

Emily Williams opened the second half with a long three, but Miranda Green answered with a three for Xavier. Another three from Tara Boothe cut UD's lead to one, 33-32, two minutes into the second half.

The Musketeers connected on their first four three-point attempts of the second half, exploding for a 20-7 run to open the second stanza.

A three-point play from Wright brought UD back within seven at 52-45 with 6:32 to go, but the Musketeers answered with a 7-0 run of their own and the Flyers would get no closer than nine the rest of the way.

The Flyers will travel to Richmond for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with the Spiders on January 7, and continue the Atlantic 10 road swing at Saint Joseph's on Sunday, January 9.