Feb. 22, 2007

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DAYTON, Ohio - Looking for a third straight win, the Dayton Flyers fell to the Massachusetts Minutewomen 66-58 on Thursday at UD Arena.

With one game to play in the regular season, Dayton's record drops to 11-17 overall and 6-7 in the Atlantic 10. UD sits in a four-way tie for sixth place in the A-10 race along with the Minutewomen, its next opponent Richmond and La Salle.

Leading the way for Dayton was freshman Kendel Ross, who delivered a solid all-around game with 12 points, six rebounds, and a career-high five assists. Senior Jennifer Strong added 12 points

UMass forward Kate Mills led all scorers with a career high 28 points and eight rebounds.

UD got off to a quick 6-2 lead following a three-point play from junior Nikki Oakland.

The lead was short lived however, as UMass forward Pam Rosanio promptly scored two straight baskets. The Minutewomen would head into a media timeout at the 15:58 mark leading 7-6.

UMass stayed hot with an 11-0 run covering 3:37. It was 13-6 before Oakland woke the Flyers offense with a lay-up. Ross then brought UD back within two at 13-11 with a three-pointer at the 12:29 mark.

However, UMass would go on a 6-0 run in response. Ross hit another three to make it 19-14.

The Minutewomen added another bucket, but junior Kathy Guin hit a three and Strong scored a lay-up in transition to bring the Flyers back within two points at 21-19.

Dayton tied it 23-23 on a strong drive to the basket by Ross, who led the Flyers in scoring with eight first half points.

The two squads traded buckets for the remaining three minutes before UMass jumped out 32-28 on two free throws by Diatiema Hill with 28 seconds remaining.

The Minutewomen would take that 32-28 advantage into locker room.

UMass' first-half momentum carried over as the Minutewomen scored the first five points of the second period. UMass would go on to hold UD scoreless for the first 3:43 of the half.

With 16:17 to go Strong slashed to the hoop to get the Flyers on the board with a lay-in, which made the score 37-30. UMass would continue to take advantage of the Flyers' slow scoring start, however, building a 45-33 lead at the 11:44 mark.

Ross made it a 10-point game with her first points of the half and Strong added two free throws to bring Dayton back within eight, but UMass continued to hammer away building their largest lead 57-39 with 6:47 to go.

Dayton then scored on a hook shot in the lane by freshman Kelly Keil, who tied her career high in rebounds with nine, making it 57-41. Junior Brittany Holterman added another basket off an offensive rebound to bring the Flyers within 14.

The UMass offense, however, was relentless going up 63-48 with 3:06 to go in the second half.

Keil added two free throws to make it 63-50 and Dayton started to score in a flurry, but the Flyers would not seriously threaten again giving the Minutewomen the road victory.

The Flyers will be on the road to play the Richmond Spiders on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. It will be the last game of the regular season for UD.

Following their contest with the Spiders, the Flyers will move on to the Atlantic 10 Championship which begins March 2 in Cincinnati at Xavier University's Cintas Center.