Dec. 19, 2006

Box Score

CLEMSON, S.C. - A career-high 29 points from Nikki Oakland was not enough as Dayton fell at Clemson, 77-69 on Tuesday. The Flyers (4-7) return to the Miami Valley following their fourth straight loss for a Friday night matchup at Wright State beginning at 7 p.m. ET.

Oakland was 11-for-15 from the field to finish with 29 points in just 31 minutes of action. She tallied 15 points in 16 second half minutes played alone. The junior forward added nine rebounds, four blocks and a steal while leading a group of three Flyers to reach double figures in scoring.

Juniors Jennifer Strong and Kathy Guin had 11 points each for the Flyers, which were out shot 45.5 percent to 37.0 percent from the field. Strong added seven rebounds, three assists and three steals while Guin finished with two assists and two steals.

Clemson (6-6) responded with three players of its own in double figures including a team-high 25 points and 13 rebounds from D'Lesha Lloyd. Adrianne Bradshaw had 12 while Lele Hardy added 10 for the Tigers which dominated at points in the paint, 46-34.

The teams played a frantic opening 20 minutes resulting in a 36-35 lead for the Flyers at halftime. Clemson used a stingy full court press to pull ahead 28-16 in the opening eight minutes of play. Dayton then turned up its own defensive pressure in the half court and kept the Tigers off the scoreboard for the next 4:56. UD continued to chip away at the CU lead using a 14-2 run in a span of 7:48 to knot the score at 30-all. Guin led the way for UD with nine points during the burst while Lund drilled a three-point basket and Oakland made a jumper for the Flyers.

Clemson pushed its lead back to three at 33-30 with 3:05 left on a free throw from Susan Yenser and a jumper by Adrianne Bradshaw. Oakland responded with three jumpers in the paint to close out the half and give Dayton a one-point advantage entering the locker room.

Two Flyers reached double figures in the first half. Oakland led all players with 14 points on 6-for-8 shooting while Guin tallied 11 points, two assists and two steals in the first 20 minutes. Dayton also forced 12 Clemson turnovers in the first half and held an 18-16 advantage in rebounding including six from Brittany Holterman.

Clemson worked its press again in the second half to secure a 47-39 lead on the strength of a 12-3 run over the first 3:52 of the second half. Kendel Ross responded with a jumper to calm the Tigers, but another 10-0 CU run over the next 3:42 to take a 57-43 advantage with 11:29 remaining.

The Flyers faced a double-digit deficit as late in the game before Strong rebounded a missed free throw and converted a layup while being fouled to make a 74-65 game with 1:33 remaining. Oakland made one of two free throws and Holterman hit a jumper in the paint to close the gap to five with 65 seconds left before Clemson stretched its lead to eight at the free throw line to win 77-69.