March 3, 2007

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CINCINNATI - A 10-point, six rebound effort from junior Brittany Holterman wasn't enough as the Dayton Flyers fell 61-45 to the No. 8/9 George Washington Colonials in the quarterfinals of the 2007 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship.

Junior Nikki Oakland added nine points and eight rebounds, while freshman Kelly Keil came off the bench to chip in with eight points.

With the loss, the Flyers finish the season 12-19 overall. UD is also winless against George Washington in 22 games.

Turnovers and poor shooting crippled the Flyers on the offensive end. UD led 19-18 at the 8:16 mark of the first half, but mustered only two points in the following 12 minutes.

During that 12 minute span from the end of the first half to the start of the second, GW went on a 26-2 run to put the game out of reach.

Dayton connected on 1-of-11 three-point attempts and finished the game shooting 30 percent from the floor.

On the flip side, George Washington forced 24 UD miscues and shot 37 percent from the field. The Colonials improved to 26-2 overall and advanced to the semifinals of the tournament.

In the first half both teams traded baskets in a close-knit defensive battle. The Flyers led 19-18 at the 8:16 mark of the first half after junior Karah Cloxton converted two free throws.

But with senior Jennifer Strong on the bench with three fouls, the Colonials answered with a 13-0 spurt to take a 31-19 advantage with 1:20 to go in the half. In that stretch, UD missed 11 consecutive field goals.

Although the Flyers held strong on the boards in the first half, Dayton connected on only seven field goals and shot 28 percent from the floor.

Holterman led the Flyers with six points after 20 minutes of play. Oakland hauled in five rebounds to go with four points.

The second half wasn't much better for the Flyers. George Washington opened the second half with a 13-0 run to lead 41-21 with 15:48 to play.

The Flyers managed to cut the lead to 15 when senior Amber Peterink hit a jumper inside, but George Washington continued to work the ball inside and use the clock to extend their advantage to 52-34.

George Washington used another double-digit run to put the game out of reach leading 60-35 with less than five minutes to play.

Strong, the Flyers leading scorer averaging 13 points per game heading into the contest, was held scoreless.

Holterman finished the game shooting 2-of-8 from the field, but connected on all six free throw attempts.