March 8, 2008

Box Score

PHILADELPHIA - Forward Nikki Oakland scored her 1,000th career point and senior guard Karah Cloxton scored a career-high 20 points as the fifth-seeded University of Dayton women's basketball team defeated fourth-seeded Charlotte, 77-51, in quarterfinal action at the 2008 Atlantic 10 Championship on Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia.

With the win, UD (25-7) advances to the semifinal round of the A-10 Championship for the second time in program history. Fifth-seeded Dayton will play top-seeded Temple Sunday at Noon ET in a game that will be televised on CSTV. Fans can also follow the action with FREE Live Audio (1610 Information Radio) and Gametracker at www.DaytonFlyers.com.

Cloxton led the way for UD by scoring her career-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 4-of-4 shooting from the line.

Oakland tallied her 11th career double-double and second in as many days with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Kendel Ross added 15 points and snared six rebounds on the afternoon, while teammate Brittany Holterman collected eight boards.

Kiki Lund was 4-of-6 from three point range finishing with 12 points overall.

Free-throw shooting was instrumental in the Flyers' win as Dayton boasted 22-of-27 shooting (.815) from the line. UD also lit it up with 11 treys on 52.4 percent shooting from beyond the arc compared to the 49ers 12.5 percent (2-of-16).

UD also won the battle of the boards, 44-to-36, and held a 30-to-20 edge on the defensive glass.

Aysha Jones was the only player to finish in double figures for Charlotte with 10 points and teammate Wendy Stywalt tallied a team-high six boards.

Charlotte took an early lead with a barrage of baskets two of which came from Sabrina Gregory. Kristin Daugherty buried a long-range three four minutes in, but Charlotte kept coming on strong with seven different players scoring in the first nine minutes of play to lead 17-10 with 11:32 left in the half.

Back-to-back three's from Lund would shrink Charlotte's advantage 19-16 and Ross would tie it up on the next time down the court with a line-drive three of her own.

Dayton took its first lead of the game behind Oakland's free throw at the four minute mark, which was also her 1,000th career point. She is 17th player in Flyer history to join the 1,000-Point Club.

The Flyers began a late rally that beginning with two free throws by Ross and a basket on the next possession. Oakland would score soon after on another two throws and a jumper with 1:42 left.

Cloxton would give the Flyers their largest lead of the frame after sinking two free throws with 26.2 seconds on the clock as UD took a 35-27 edge into intermission.

Free throw shots proved to be pivotal in the first half as Dayton finished 12-of-13 from the line while also hitting on 5-of-14 shots from beyond the arc.

Charlotte stumbled out of the gate in the second half with three fouls in just a little over a minute, but would score first on a mid-range shot from Whitney Hoey.

49ers would cut the lead to four points behind three consecutive baskets from Ray, Stywalt, and Danielle Burgin, 42-38 with 13:44 to go.

UD kept up the impressive shooting from beyond the arc as Cloxton and Ross lit up with two three's in less than a 30-second time span and Lund hit a trey at 8:24 to give UD a 17 point lead, 58-41.

After a struggle under the basket, Kendel would go up and net a shot with 3:57 on the clock.

From that point on the Flyers never looked back eventually winning the game 77-53.

Dayton is back in action at Noon ET on Sunday versus the No. 1 seed Temple. Sunday's game can be followed with Gametracker and live audio at www.DaytonFlyers.com. The game will also air on CSTV.