Jan. 27, 2006

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DAYTON, Ohio - Senior forward Cara Wright recorded her 10th double-double of the season with 22 points and 13 rebounds as the Dayton women's basketball team downed the Rhode Island Rams, 62-51, Friday night at UD Arena. Forward Jennifer Strong added 13 points as UD improved to 13-5 overall and 5-2 in the Atlantic 10.

Wright finished 9-of-13 from the field for her fifth 20-point game of the season. A trio of Flyers added six points: Kiki Lund, Amber Peterink and Terri Ramsey who also chipped in five assists. The Flyers held the Rams (5-13; 2-5 Atlantic 10) to just 29.2 percent shooting for the game on 19-of-65 from the field as they won for the fourth time in five games.

Jennifer Strong opened the game with a three from the corner, and UD held Rhode Island scoreless for the first four possessions and without a field goal for 4:58. After a free throw by Wright, Strong hit another three as UD led 7-1 before Whitney Hollis finally got the Rams a field goal with a lay-up in the paint. Hollis added another to pull URI within a pair but then Wright was fouled going to the hole and gave UD an 8-5 lead from the free throw line.

Jen Tisza scored while being fouled, and hit the old-fashioned three-point play for an 11-6 UD lead. URI's Amanda McGrew and UD's Amber Peterink traded baskets inside before three-straight scores from Wright put the Flyers up 19-10.

Kiki Lund canned back-to-back threes as the Flyers took their largest lead of the half, 27-14, with 1:07 to go and neither team scored again before the break. Wright led UD with eight points at intermission, while Strong and Lund each had six. Wright also grabbed eight rebounds.

The Flyers held Rhode Island to just 20.7 percent shooting in the first half (6-of-29) and forced 13 turnovers for the fewest points the Flyers have allowed in a half this season, topping the 19 allowed in the first half versus Akron.

Dayton shot twice as well in the first half as the Rams: 10 of 24 for 41.7 percent, including four-of-eight from three-point range.

Hollis recorded two of URI's six field goals in the first to lead the Rams with five points at the break, she also grabbed four boards.

To open the second, McGrew hit a three out of the half for the Rams before Wright scored inside off a feed from Angela Cape. But McGrew hit another three-pointer to pull URI to 29-20 with 18:19

Rhode Island closed to within 31-27, but Wright was fouled in the act of scoring and hit the `and-one' for a seven-point lead with 14:16 remaining. After a basket from Tanja Lacina, Terri Ramsey hit a pair of freebies and the two teams traded baskets as Dayton nursed a seven-point lead to the 11:03 mark, up 40-33.

McGrew connected on two more three-pointers -- with a jumper by Wright as the shot clock wound down in between - as the Rams pulled to within 46-43 with 5:22 remaining.

Wright re-established a four-point lead with a basket inside for her fifth game with 20 or more points on the season. After a free throw and lay-up by the Rams, Strong nailed a three from the corner for a 54-48 lead with just over two minutes to go.

But Erin Cournoyer converted an `and-one' to pull the Rams back within three. On UD's next possession Peterink hit a pair of free throws with 1:09 to go and Ashley Armstrong grabbed a rebound on the defensive end. Ramsey nailed a three with 33 seconds left for an eight-point margin to seal the win.

For Rhode Island, McGrew finished with 16 points on six-of-13 shooting, including four-of-10 from three-point range. Cournoyer finished with nine points. Tanya Rhodes had 10 rebounds and eight points.

Dayton is now 7-0 this season when holding opponents under 60 points, and 7-2 at University of Dayton Arena this season.

The Flyers are back in action on Sunday in the Bronx against the Fordham Rams in a 2:00 p.m. Atlantic 10 conference game.