Feb. 13, 2009
Live Audio | Gametracker
DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's basketball team is set for one of its biggest games of the year as the team gears up to take on the nationally-ranked Xavier Musketeers in a nationally-televised game on Sunday, Feb. 15 at the Cintas Center. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. ET and fans can follow the action on CBS College Sports Network. Live audio and lives stats will also be available at www.DaytonFlyers.com.
The Flyers are coming off a 37 point margin of victory against the Fordham Rams on Tuesday evening (82-45). The Freshmen Flyers shined in the match-up as three rookies finished in double figures including Casey Nance who netted a career-high 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting from the field. De'Sarae Chambers chipped in with 16 points on 4-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc, while Justine Raterman tallied 14 points.
UD is now 15-10 on the season and 4-5 in the Atlantic 10 Conference and has won its last two games.
Dayton has allowed 61.6 points per game this season while outscoring the competition by 3.4 points per contest. The trio of Kristin Daugherty (13.4 ppg, 5.2 rpg), Raterman (13.2 ppg, 9.2 rpg), and Kendel Ross (10.8 ppg, 6.8 rpg) have paced Dayton, while point guard Patrice Lalor is averaging 3.4 apg while only averaging 2.9 turnovers per contest.
Of the 65.1 points per game UD averages, 40.9 of those points come from freshmen. Four rookie Flyers are averaging 5.0 points per game or more. Raterman, is seventh in the nation among all freshmen in scoring and has tallied 329 points on the year.
SCOUTING XAVIER
No. 21/19 Xavier enters Sunday's match-up with a 21-4 overall record and a 9-0 mark in league play, which is the team's best-ever start in the Atlantic 10.
The Musketeers, who have won 12-straight games heading into Sunday, dominated George Washington offensively to pick up an 82-62 win on Wednesday at the Cintas Center. Four players tallied double digits as the team shot a scorching 73.7 percent from the beyond the arc.
XU is outscoring opponents by a +14.1 margin this season to lead the A-10. The team is led by sophomore Ta'Shia Phillips. The 6-6 center is averaging a team-best 13.4 ppg and she leads the A-10 in field goal percentage at 63 percent, which ranks an impressive third in the nation. Phillips is also tops in the A-10 in rebounding (11.8 rpg). Her rebounding average ranks fifth in the nation.
Kevin McGuff has guided the Muskies to 20 wins in six of his seven seasons as head coach. He boasts a career record of 151-63.
SERIES STUFF
Dayton leads the all-time series 30-24 and has won two of the last three meetings. However, Xavier has won 10 of the last 12 outings including earlier in the season (Jan. 17) when the Musketeers edged past Dayton, 51-49, at UD Arena.
NEXT UP
Dayton will travel to Richmond, VA for a match-up with the Richmond Spiders on Wed. Feb. 18. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game can be followed with live stats at www.DaytonFlyers.com.
