Feb. 27, 2005

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DAYTON, OH - It was her day as the lone Dayton Flyer senior and Emily Williams responded with a career-high 29 points, but the Flyers fell 78-77 in overtime to Richmond Sunday afternoon at UD Arena in the regular-season finale. Down 76-77, Richmond's Araceli Gil was fouled driving the lane and her free throws put Richmond up one with 7.2 remaining and the Flyers couldn't get a look at the other end.

The Flyers fall to 12-15 overall and finish 6-10 in the Atlantic 10, while the Spiders improve to 21-6, 12-4. Dayton finishes tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10 West, but will be the fifth seed in the A-10 Tournament via tie-breaker.

Cara Wright added 22 points and eight rebounds, while Jennifer Strong added 12 points and six boards. Angela Cape contributed nine points, six rebounds and four assists.

Saona Chapman paced Richmond with 21 points, while DeUnna Hendrix added 13 and Gil chipped in 11. Kate Flavin scored 12 points and had seven rebounds in 22 minutes before leaving with a knee injury.

Williams, who started the game 9-of-11 from the field, finished 10-of-18 with four three-pointers.

Richmond opened the game with an 8-0 run with back-to-back three-pointers before Williams got UD on the board with a three and Wright added two baskets inside to bring UD within a 10-7 margin. Cape scored her second field goal from the paint as the Flyers stayed within three of Richmond at 16-13.

After Richmond surged ahead 25-15, Strong knocked down a three from the corner. Strong then hit two free throws and Williams hit another tripled as UD pulled back to within three, at 26-23 with 6:10 to go in the first half.

The Flyers couldn't get back to tie it before the half, as Karah Cloxton and Wright scored again before half, but 12 first-half points from Flavin gave Richmond a 36-31 halftime lead.

Williams had 12 points on four-of-six shooting in the first, while Wright had eight points and five rebounds at the break. Dayton shot 50 percent from the field in the first half on 12-of-24, but the Spiders shot 48 percent on 13-of-27.

Dayton held Richmond without a field goal for the first 7:18 of the second half. Williams drove the lane for two and Wright hit a pair of free throws to make it a one-point game.

After Richmond hit two free throws, Williams drained a three-ball to knot it at 38-38. A turnaround from Williams gave UD its first lead at 40-38 with 17:20 to go.

Wright scored back-to-back baskets as UD took a 46-39 lead, but the Spiders refused to go away getting to the line to pull within 48-45.

Williams hit a runner in the paint and Wright scored inside, but the Spiders responded with back-to-back `and-ones' two take a 53-52 lead. Strong drove the lane to give UD the lead back. The Spiders answered with four free-throws but back-to-back threes from Williams and Strong gave the Flyers a 60-59 lead with five minutes to go.

A bank from Champman cut the UD lead to 66-63 with a minute to go. A three from Hendrix tied the game at 66-66 with 34 seconds to go. Williams' shot with seven seconds to go hit the back iron and the game moved to overtime.

Wright opened overtime with a jumper from the elbow and Cape hit a pair of freebies. Williams converted an `and-one' and the Flyers were up six with 1:50 remaining.

After a pair of free throws from Wright, Chapman hit a three for the Spiders to cut the score to 75-70 with 54 seconds remaining and Mirna Mazic hit an `and-one' seconds later. Williams calmly knocked down two free throws before Chapman scored and got to the line again. Richmond forced a turnover with 22.4 remaining, trailing 77-76 and Gil drove to the basket for the game-winning free throws.

Dayton committed only six turnovers in the second half and overtime in erasing what was once a 10-point deficit to take the lead. The Flyers fall to 10-2 when scoring over 60 points.

In addition to Williams, the women's basketball program also honored manager Darren Knapke in pre-game Senior Day ceremonies.

The Flyers next game will be on Friday against Fordham at approximately 4:00 p.m. at the Atlantic 10 Championship in Washington, DC. Fordham (9-20; 5-11) is the fourth-seed in the East.