Nov. 16, 2006

Box Score

CINCINNATI - Visiting Dayton nearly took down Cincinnati on the road, but a second half surge by the Bearcats led UC past UD, 65-60 in non-conference women's basketball action on Thursday night.

Dayton (2-2) nearly overcame 23 turnovers as three Flyers scored 12 points a piece. Senior Jennifer Strong tallied 12 points and eight rebounds for UD. Karah Cloxton also had a dozen points along with four assists while Kathy Guin scored 12 while dishing out five assists off the bench.

Cincinnati (3-0) was led by 18 points from Emy Ogide while Shelly Bellman and Karen Twuhues added 12 and 10 points respectively. The Bearcats also took advantage of the Flyer error as they held a 19-11 edge in points off turnovers.

UD dominated in the interior to start the game as they built a 6-0 lead just two minutes into the game on baskets from Cloxton, Nikki Oakland and Brittany Holterman that all came within just eight feet of the basket.

After UC closed to within a pair at 10-8 at the 10:39 mark, Dayton responded with a 5-0 run on a pair of baskets by Guin. A three pointer from the wing and a jumper inside gave the Flyers their biggest lead of the game at 15-8 with 10:39 left in the half.

From there, the Bearcats began to work a combination of three point shots from Bellman and the interior presence of Twehues to eventually knot the score at 30-30 at the half.

Dayton began the second half in much the same way as they did in the first with aggressive layups from Cloxton and Armstrong for a four-point lead just 49 seconds into the period. Cloxton followed with a trey and another layup by Armstrong on the fast break gave UD a 39-32 advantage with 17:58 left in the second half and forced a UC timeout.

The Flyers would hold onto their lead for nearly five minutes, but a jumper in the paint from Ogide gave UC its first lead of the half at 46-45 with 13:06 left. UD regained control of the game with a 53-52 lead at the 9:04 mark, but a 10-2 Bearcat run over the next 6:53 would prove to be the difference as Cincinnati took a 64-55 lead with 2:07 remaining.

Dayton tried desperately to come from behind as they got within four on the combination of missed UC free throws and five points from Guin, but three missed shots from the outside in the final 23 seconds of the game left the Flyers on the short side of a 65-60 loss to Cincinnati.

UD will close out a five-game road trip on Sunday with a 6 p.m. ET tipoff against Indiana. The game can be followed live with Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.