Jan. 9, 2007

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DAYTON, Ohio - Homestanding Dayton used a strong first half to scare rival Xavier before falling, 71-54 in the Atlantic 10 women's basketball opener for both teams on Tuesday at UD Arena. With the loss, UD falls to 5-11 overall while XU improved to 12-4.

The Flyers connected on 42.4 percent of their shots from the field in the first half and led by as many as seven at one point before trailing by three, 33-30, at halftime. Overall, UD was out shot 39.7 percent to 37.3 percent from the field while forcing 21 XU turnovers.

Senior Jennifer Strong led Dayton with 15 points while junior Nikki Oakland added 10 points and a team-high six rebounds.

Freshman Kendel Ross finished with nine points, five rebounds and a career-high three blocks. Oakland added two blocks of her own as the Flyers matched the Musketeers with six blocks each.

Three Musketeers reached double figures in scoring led by 18 from Suntana Granderson. Joei Clyburn finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds while Amber Harris added 15 points and 14 rebounds of her own.

Dayton traded baskets with Xavier in a well played first half for the Flyers. Down 15-16 with 9:55 left in the half, Strong hit a jumper from the baseline to put UD up 17-16. Strong would then hit two more baskets, including her sixth consecutive point at the 8:26 to put the Flyers up 21-16.

Holterman gave Dayton its largest lead of the half at 25-18 on a layup with 6:24 left until the break, capping off a 10-2 Flyer run.

Xavier's Green drained a three-pointer on the ensuing drive that cooled down the Flyers, cutting lead to four, 25-21. Greene's triple sparked a 13-5 Musketeer run over the last 5:58 of the half to give the visitors a 33-30 lead going into the locker room.

Defensively for the half, the Flyers held the Musketeers to just 28 percent shooting from the floor, forcing 12 turnovers, with four blocks and three steals.

Xavier used a 10-2 run, that saw two three-pointers from Granderson, to start the second half and the Flyers fell behind 43-32 in just three minutes.

A 10-footer by Oakland at the 16:37 mark gave UD some life, but Xavier would then score 15-straight points before a layup by Peterink at the 10:06 mark cut the lead to 58-36. Peterink's basket ended a Flyers scoring drought of nearly 6:30.

A lay up by Oakland with 3:50 left cut the lead to 20, 71-51. Strong made the front end of a one-and-one with 2:58 left to cut the score to 71-52, but the Flyers could get no closer as neither team could manage field goal for the rest of the game.

Dayton returns to the court for two-game Atlantic 10 road trip this weekend. UD takes on Charlotte on Friday (7 p.m. ET) and Saint Louis on Sunday (2 p.m. ET). Every remaining game this season can be followed with live audio and Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com. Also on Tuesday, Charlotte defeated Saint Louis, 74-49 in the A-10 opener for both teams.