March 9, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Senior Kiki Lund was the lone Flyer to score in double figures as the fifth-seeded Dayton Flyers fell to No. 1 seed Temple 56-51 Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championships. With the loss, UD moves to 25-8 overall, while the Owls improve to 21-11 overall.

Lund scored 10 points for Dayton, while freshman Kristin Daugherty added nine of her own in the game.

Seniors Nikki Oakland and Brittany Holterman were held to just six points a piece as Dayton finished 22-of-55 (40 percent) from the floor and 3-of-16 (18.8 percent) from three point range.

Temple had three players in double figures including Lady Comfort who tallied a double-double of 11 rebounds and 10 points. Ashley Morris led all scorers with 14 points, while teammate Lindsay Kimmel finished with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

It was a back-and-forth battle that featured eight ties and four lead changes. The Owls finished an impressive 6-of-12 from three point range on 50 percent shooting and also went 6-of-14 (42.9 percent) from the line.

Dayton led in bench points 18-11 and also held and edge in points off turnovers 14-9, but Temple won the battle in second chance points 7-2, fast break points 6-0, and out-rebounded UD 41-32.

Temple's Kimmel opened the scoring burying a three at 19:15 as the Owls would continue to build an early advantage on baskets from Comfort and Morris.

Armstrong would tie it up for UD for the first time in the game, 9-9 with a fast break layup at 14:44, but Temple would keep it going scoring two more baskets in a little over a minute.

Dayton reserve Kelly Keil stepped it up sinking back-to-back shots to even it up once more, 15-15, but Holterman's jumper at 10:47 would give UD its first lead of the game (17-15).

With 10 minutes left to play in the half, both teams traded baskets as the frame featured seven ties and four lead changes. Four of the seven ties in the first half happened in the last 10 minutes of play and the teams would head into the lockerroom with the score knotted at 28-28.

Temple limited Dayton to just 16.7 percent shooting (1-of-6) from three point range, but Dayton shot 12-of-25 (48 percent) from the floor compared to the Owls 13-of-32 (40.6 percent) in the half.

The second frame started the same way the first ended with two lead changes and a tie in the first five minutes.

Kimmel hit back-to-back treys in a little over a minute to give Temple a little breathing room.

But it wouldn't last long because Dayton's Daugherty would hit one of her own on the next time down to keep the score close, 38-37 with 15:27 on the clock.

However, the Owls edged their way back and would take a six point lead after a layup from Landry at 10:31 (45-39).

The two teams remained scoreless for more than four minutes until Kimmel drained a three pointer at 7:56 to extend Temple's edge to nine points, 48-39.

Dayton was still without a field goal for more than eight minutes firing off eight miscues during that time.

Temple continued the pace with their biggest lead of the game coming after a layup from Landry, 52-39 with 5:16 left to play.

Dayton would pull within four points after Cloxton drove in and connected on a fast break layup and was fouled for the additional point, but the Flyers would not overcome the deficit eventually losing 56-51 to the Temple Owls.

Stay tuned for more information regarding the UD women's basketball postseason on www.DaytonFlyers.com.