Feb. 19, 2006

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DAYTON, Ohio - The Dayton women's basketball team fell to the No. 23 (AP) / No. 22 (ESPN/USA Today) Temple Owls Sunday afternoon at UD Arena, 70-36. Nikki Oakland led the Flyers (16-9; 8-6 Atlantic 10) with 11 points and five rebounds. Temple All-American Candice Dupree scored 24 points to lead the Owls.

Jennifer Strong added 10 points for UD, with four rebounds. Kamesha Hairston added 10 points for the Owls, while Lady Comfort led all rebounders with 11.

After battling it out early with eight lead changes and two ties, the Owls used a 20-4 run midway through the first half to take control and never look back. The Owls held UD to 27 percent shooting from the field and owned a 53-26 rebounding advantage.

The Flyers fell behind 4-0 early before Strong connected on a three from the wing. After back-to-back defensive stops, Strong drove for a lay-up and a 5-4 Dayton lead. Kiki Lund nailed a three from the top of the key for an 8-6 UD lead, but Dupree scored inside to knot it back up at 8-8 with 15:13 to go in the first.

Strong answered back-to-back Owls baskets with a three-pointer from the corner and Lund followed with a three ball from the other corner for a 14-12 Dayton lead, forcing Temple head coach Dawn Staley to call a timeout.

Dayton connected on five of its first six three-point attempts, including the first of Oakland's career, which tied the game at 19-19.

But the Owls went on a 9-0 run behind three-straight baskets from Dupree. Oakland scored inside to pull the Flyers within nine at 30-21. Temple answered with another 9-0 run, keyed by foul touch fouls from the Flyers.

The Flyers forced two-straight shot clock violations and Oakland scored inside off a feed from Lund, but the Owls stretched the lead to 20 at 43-23 after a basket by Hairston with 1:18 before the half. Oakland scored inside on the last basket before the half as Temple took a 43-25 lead into the locker room.

Oakland hit five-of-seven shots in the first half. Dupree scored 16 in the first half, while Lady Comfort had eight rebounds. Rebounding was the difference in the first half, as Temple owned the glass, holding Dayton to one second-chance opportunity while controlling a 25-8 lead in rebounding.

The Dayton defense held Temple to just two points in the first 3:36 of the second half, but found themselves down 45-25. Strong hit a long jumper as Dayton, but Hairston answered right back. Jennifer Tisza hit a jumper for a 54-29 score. The Owls continued to press and ran the lead to as many as 60-29 before Ashley Armstrong hit a three. Tisza scored again for her career high,

With officials letting the teams play - only seven total fouls were called in the first half - the athletic Owls out-muscled the Flyers. UD All-Atlantic 10 forward Cara Wright was held scoreless, on zero-of-seven shooting, and despite being abused in the paint, didn't make a trip to the free throw line.

The Flyers as a team attempted just three free throws (with Armstrong sinking two of them) as Temple was called for just nine personal fouls. The Owls were six-of-13 from the free throw line.

Temple held UD to just four-of-25 shooting in the second half, and just 11 second-half points. The Flyers have not beaten a ranked team since 2001, when Dayton defeated No. 25 Maryland, 56-53, at UD Arena.

Oakland is averaging 10.3 points per game in her last three contests in just 53 minutes.

Dayton will play host to Duquesne on Friday at 7:00 p.m. on Senior Night, when UD will honor Angela Cape, Lyndsey DeWitt, Terri Ramsey and Cara Wright in a pre-game ceremony.