Dec. 29, 2006

Box Score

HANOVER, N.H. - Senior Jennifer Strong posted a season-high 24 points and became the 16th player in UD history to join the 1,000-point club, but Dayton lost to Boston, 77-74 in the opening game of the 2006 Blue Sky Classic at Dartmouth College. The loss was the sixth straight by eight points or less for the Flyers (4-9) who will play in the Consolation Game on Saturday at 5 p.m. ET.

Strong shot 8-for-19 from the field and converted 6-of-7 free throw attempts to lead a group of four Flyers in double figures. Current A-10 Player of the Week Nikki Oakland finished with 11 points and seven rebounds for UD. She was followed by Kathy Guin with 10 points, five rebounds and five assists as well as Brittany Holterman with 10 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Kelly Keil posted a season-high nine points and nine rebounds as UD out shot BU 45.9 percent to 41.9 percent from the field and held a 42-34 advantage in rebounding.

Both teams were solid from the outside as Dayton made 6-of-18 three-point shots and Boston connected on 7-of-16 from long range.

The Terriers (8-4) advanced to Saturday's Championship Game behind a game-high tying 24 points and six assists from Katie Meinhardt.

The Flyers got off to a great start with a 6-0 lead out the gate on baskets from Jennifer Strong, Nikki Oakland and Brittany Holterman in the first 2:30 of the game. From there both teams used solid shooting efforts from three-point range (4-for-8 by each team in the first half) to keep the game within six for the rest of the half.

Boston closed to within a point at 24-23 on a jumper by Devine with 8:09 left, but Dayton responded with another burst to stretch its advantage back to six. A trey from Karah Cloxton and a layup by Kelly Keil gave UD a 29-23 lead with 6:49 left before halftime.

Dayton maintained its six-point lead at late as the 2:36 mark of the opening half until the Terriers worked back into the game from the free throw line. BU scored seven consecutive points from the charity stripe during a span of 3:23 to close to within two points at 37-35 with 1:22 left in the half. Boston pulled ahead on a trey from Kristi Dini. Then the Terriers stole the ball in the backcourt and converted a layup to go ahead by three. Dayton closed out the half on another layup from Keil to head to the locker room down by just a point at 40-39.

UD shot 51.6 percent from the field in the first half and were led by seven points from Jennifer Strong and six points each by Nikki Oakland and Brittany Holterman. The Flyers also dominated the boards with a 24-13 advantage in rebounding including five by Kelly Keil. Kiki Lund came off the bench to dish out three first-half assists as the Flyers recorded assists on nine of their 16 made baskets.

Dayton came out the locker room in the second half as the aggressor. The Flyers forced the Terriers into seven personal fouls in the first portion of the second half. UD was in the bonus at the 12:45 mark and took advantage with its first lead of the half on a pair of free throws by Jennifer Strong. Strong scored nine points in the first 7:15 of the half to help Dayton take a 56-53 lead.

Jennifer Strong kept up the pace and drilled a trey from the corner in front of her own bench with 8:18 left to give Dayton a 63-61 lead. The basket gave Strong 20 points on the night and pushed her past the 1,000 point plateau for her career.

The focus of the Flyer offense then shifted from a senior to a freshman as Kelly Keil scored four of the next seven points for Dayton including a jumper from the free throw line at the 3:57 mark to give UD a 70-68 advantage.

Boston responded with another trey from Kristi Dini and a pair of free throws by Katie Meinhardt to take a 73-70 lead with 1:47 left on the clock. BU added another two points on a layup with 60 seconds left, but Strong responded with a jumper from the paint at the 48 second mark.

After a pair of missed Terrier free throws, the Flyers took the ball into the frontcourt and called timeout with 22.8 seconds left on the clock. Jennifer Strong got the ball on the inbound pass at the top of the key and was fouled while shooting a three-point shot. She went to the line with 21.4 left she made the first, but missed the second. After Strong made the third shot to make it a one-point deficit at 75-74. However, the Flyers were forced to foul Boston's Erica Kovach in the backcourt and she made a pair of free throws with 16.2 seconds left to give BU another three-point lead. A last second three-point attempt by Guin was no good as the Flyers lost their sixth straight game by eight points or less, 77-74.