Feb. 27, 2008

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CINCINNATI - Dayton drilled nine three-point shots to secure a season sweep of rival Xavier with a 68-58 road victory on Wednesday evening. With the win, the Flyers (22-7, 8-5 A-10) assured themselves of either a fourth or fifth seed in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Championship.

The Flyers could earn a fourth seed and a first round bye in the Atlantic 10 Championship with a win on Senior Day Saturday against Saint Louis at UD Arena (Noon ET tipoff) and a loss by Charlotte in its final game against Richmond. Otherwise, Dayton would finish fifth in the A-10 standings for its best seed ever in the A-10 postseason.

"I think we were a better team than them tonight and I think that we played harder," UD Head Coach Jim Jabir said. "We played a great game plan and we played like a team and we executed. I couldn't be prouder of this team."

UD earned its first season sweep of XU since the 2001-2002 season behind the solid play from the senior quartet of Kiki Lund, Nikki Oakland, Karah Cloxton and Brittany Holterman.

"Our scoring was timely tonight," Jabir commented. "Kiki (Lund) made some big shots at really important times to sustain the lead. Nikki (Oakland) made some clutch shots and (Karah) Cloxton ran the club well."

Lund matched her season-high with five threes en route to 15 points off the bench for the Flyers. The guard also made five treys against San Diego and UW-Milwaukee.

"She was huge," Jabir commented. "She hit some big threes that were the difference for us tonight."

Oakland matched Lund with 15 points of her own to go along with seven rebounds, two steals and one block while connecting on 7-of-13 shots from the field including back-to-back treys with under four minutes remaining to cap a decisive 11-2 Flyer run.

Cloxton dished out just three assists from the point guard position for the Flyers, but scored nine points and pulled down a team-best nine rebounds to limit Xavier to 15 second chance points on the night.

Holterman had nine points of her own and added three rebounds and four steals while guarding Xavier's All-America candidate Amber Harris, which led the Musketeers with 17 points overall after being held to just two in the first half.

"Our double downs were great tonight," Jabir said. "They couldn't pass out. They couldn't even see out. I thought we did a great job defensively."

Dayton held a commanding 29-10 lead in bench points behind Lund's 15 and seven each by sophomores Kendel Ross and Kelly Keil.

Both teams started slowly before a Kendel Ross three from the top of the key and a Nikki Oakland hook shot in the paint gave UD a 20-13 lead with 6:00 remaining in the opening stanza. However, the Musketeers would rally behind long-range treys by Maureen Hester and Jerri Taylor to even the score two and a half minutes later.

Dayton would eventually take a 28-26 lead into the locker room at halftime as it held Xavier's Amber Harris to only two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field in the first half. In contrast, UD benefited from 10 first-half points by forward Nikki Oakland while connecting on 4-of-12 shots from long range.

The teams would trade baskets again for a majority of the second half as Dayton built a lead of as big as five on a jumper by Kelly Keil at the 9:52 mark, while Xavier took the lead back on a jumper by Amber Harris with 8:42 remaining.

Kiki Lund countered for the Flyers with a trey from the wing with 7:41 left to put UD ahead 48-46. The basket would ignite a 13-4 Dayton spurt that included two more treys from Lund. Oakland hit a three of her own to add five points in the stretch to go along with a jumper by Kendel Ross and give the Flyers a 61-50 lead it would not relinquish.

The Flyers' Senior Day festivities will begin at 11:40 a.m. ET on Saturday at UD Arena followed by the game with the Billikens beginning at Noon ET. The ceremony involving eight seniors (seven players and one manager) and the entire game can be followed with Gametracker as well as FREE Live Video and Audio (1610 Information Radio) at www.DaytonFlyers.com.