Nov. 11, 2007

Box Score

ALBUQUERQUE, NM - Visiting Dayton nearly overcame a 15-point halftime deficit before falling to host New Mexico, 72-64 in front of 8,042 fans at "The Pit" on Saturday evening. UD (0-2) will look for its first win of the season on Sunday at 2p.m. ET when the Flyers take on Western Michigan (1-1) in game that can be followed with Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.

Four Flyers reached double figures in scoring led by 20 points in just 22 minutes of action from senior forward Nikki Oakland. She connected on 8-of-11 shots from the field with 18 of her 20 points coming after halftime.

Freshman Kristin Daugherty hit 2-of-3 shots from three-point range to finish with 16 points to go along with eight rebounds and three steals.

Senior Brittany Holterman had 14 points and four steals while also collecting four rebounds and two assists.

Classmate Karah Cloxton added 12 points with five assists and two steals as UD held a 20-15 edge in points off turnovers.

Dayton made 16-of-33 (.485) shots in the second half to finish at 40.0 percent from the field overall on the night. UD held a 40-24 lead at points in the paint and a 12-6 edge in second chance points.

New Mexico (2-0) countered with four players of its own in double figures and hit on 51.1 percent of its shots from the field (23-of-45). The Lobos also had a 21-13 advantage in made free throws and connected on 5-of-9 shots from downtown to just 3-of-14 for the Flyers.

The host Lobos jumped out to a 10-0 lead as the Flyers missed their first six shots from the field and were whistled for four unanswered fouls in the first 4:31 of play. UD worked its way to as close as 10 at 23-13 with 6:41 remaining, but UNM stretched its lead back to 15 at the intermission, 37-22.

Kristin Daugherty hit a pair of treys in the first half to score eight points in 10 minutes of action and lead a Dayton offense that managed just 8-of-27 (.296) shooting from the field. UD was also just 2-for-7 from beyond the arc while UNM hit on 4-of-5 shots from downtown. Brittany Holterman and Karah Cloxton each added six points while Holterman also had four rebounds for the Flyers in the first 20 minutes.

The Flyers exploded with an 8-2 run to start the second half over a span of just 1:39. Dayton was led by two layups from Nikki Oakland as well as a pair of free throws from Brittany Holterman to start the surge. Holterman followed with a steal at midcourt and a breakaway layup that made it a 39-30 score with 18:21 left to play.

UD kept the margin within single digits for most of the second half and closed to within five ay 65-60 with 2:06 left on Nikki Oakland's sixth field goal of the second half. Oakland had 18 second-half points while fellow senior Brittany Holterman added eight points after halftime, but New Mexico drained 7-of-8 free throws in the final 1:49 of play to hold on for a 72-64 victory.