Dec. 9, 2004

Box Score

DAYTON, OH - The University of Dayton women's basketball team was out-slugged by No. 5 (Coaches/No. 7 AP) Notre Dame, 65-39, Thursday night at UD Arena. Cara Wright led the Flyers with a career-high 19 points as UD falls to 4-4. Charel Allen had 14 points for the Irish, who improve to 8-1.

Wright also grabbed six rebounds and blocked three shots to lead the Flyers, while Emily Williams chipped in nine points for UD.

The Flyers held the Irish's top two scorers, Jacqueline Batteast (who was averaging 19.8 entering the game) and local product Megan Duffy (14.8) to season-lows in points. Batteast led the Irish on the glass with seven rebounds to go with seven points. Duffy had just five points for ND, but the junior guard from nearby Chaminade-Julienne high school added five assists. Melissa D'Amico added 12 points for Notre Dame.

The Flyers opened with a deuce inside from Wright and a three from Williams put UD on top 5-2. The Irish forced 13 Flyer turnovers over the next 13 minutes, grinding out a 14-3 run to take a 16-8 lead with 5:34 to go in the first half. Each team scored six down the stretch as Notre Dame took a 22-14 lead into the break.

The Flyers held ND to its season-low in the first half, but shot only 23 percent from the field themselves. Wright led all-scorers at intermission with six points.

The Irish opened the second half with six-straight points to establish a 28-14 lead 1:47 into the second stanza. Notre Dame continued to press to stretch their lead to as many as 20, at 38-18, but the Flyers chipped away with lay-ups inside against the press, bringing the lead down to 42-26 with 11:34 remaining.

But the Flyers would get no closer as Irish head coach kept the press on and the Flyers finished with 26 turnovers. Notre Dame shot .586 from the field in the second half and .466 in the second, while holding UD to a season-low .288.

Dayton has nine days between games while the student-athletes have finals. The Flyers host Detroit on Saturday, December 18, at 7:00 p.m. at UD Arena. After Christmas, Dayton wraps up non-conference play at the Florida International Sun & Fun Classic, December 28-29 where UD will face Brown and either Stony Brook or host FIU.