Feb. 17, 2006

Box Score

SAINT LOUIS - Three Flyers tallied double figures in scoring along with two double-doubles as the Dayton women's basketball team defeated Saint Louis, 72-67, in Atlantic 10 Conference action on Friday night.

With the win, Dayton (16-8, 8-5 A-10) lifted itself into a tie for fifth place in the A-10 standings. The win also secured UD its most victories since the 2000-01 campaign. Saint Louis fell to 6-18 overall and 3-10 in conference play.

Junior Jennifer Strong led all players with 18 points for Dayton while senior Cara Wright and sophomore Brittany Holterman each posted double-doubles. Wright tallied her conference leading 13th double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Holterman finished with her first career double-double with 12 points and a career-best 12 rebounds to go along with seven assists.

UD made 48.1 percent of its shots from the field (25-of-52) while out rebounding SLU 44-33. Dayton also made as free throws as Saint Louis attempted (19) with Strong finishing 5-for-5 from the stripe and Oakland hitting on 4-of-4.

The Flyers also dished out 18 assists as a team for its ninth performance this season of at least 18 assists. Sophomore Karah Cloxton had six assists in her first career start at point guard.

Saint Louis controlled the tempo for most of the first half and held a 25-15 lead after 15 minutes of player before Dayton went inside to Angela Cape who keyed a 10-0 UD run to end the half. While the Flyer defense held the Billikens without a point for the final 5:12 of the half, Cape tallied six of the 10 points down the stretch to knot the score at 25-all heading into the locker room.

Strong led all scorers with 10 first-half points including a 5-for-5 performance at the free throw line. Although UD outshoot SLU from the field 35 percent to 30 percent and led in rebounds 23-19, Saint Louis overcame the deficit with nine offensive rebounds in the first 20 minutes of play while forcing 10 Dayton turnovers.

The Flyers began the second half on a hot streak and built a 48-36 lead within nine minutes. UD made 10 of its first 15 shots from the field after halftime with points from five different players. Holterman led the charge with six points followed by four each from Oakland, Wright and Kiki Lund.

Then the SLU defense stiffened and held UD without a field goal for the final 3:01 of the game. During that time Saint Louis closed the gap with a 15-7 rally, but the Flyers held on for a 72-67 victory thanks in part to three free throws by Terri Ramsey off the bench.

The Flyers return home to host #23/22 Temple on Sunday at UD Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. ET and the game can be followed with live audio and Gametracker on www.DaytonFlyers.com.