Dec. 6, 2008

Box Score

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Dayton Flyers held on for a 67-66 road win over Big Ten foe Penn State Saturday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center. Freshman Patrice Lalor and sophomore Kristin Daugherty led UD with 14 points each as Dayton improved 6-3 on the year and Penn State fell to 4-4.

Dayton snapped Penn State's 16-game non-conference home game winning streak with the victory.

Freshman Patrice Lalor scored 11 of her career-high 14 points in the first half and finished the game 4-of- 8 from three point range. Lalor also dished out four assists in the win. Junior Kendel Ross added 13 points for UD, while freshman Justine Raterman chipped in with 10. Casey Nance grabbed eight boards, Raterman finished with seven.

For PSU, Tyra Grant and Julie Trogele were the leading scorers with 14 and 12 points, respectively.

Dayton finished the game 25-of-47 (44 percent) from the field compared to Penn State's 25-of-65 (39 percent). Penn State led in points in the paint (26-20), points off turnovers (27-14) and rebounding (39-37).

"I think our defense was really sound in the game," said head coach Jim Jabir. "We held them to 8 percent in the field at some point in the first half. They run simple stuff, but good stuff. We scouted very well. We made them work harder for their shots. They just sort of ran out of time. If they had a couple of more minutes I would be sitting here in a different mood."

Dayton came out with a 5-0 lead in the first four minutes of play behind a three-pointer from Patrice Lalor and a lay-up from Marie Rosche.

Penn State would score its first four points on free throws and wouldn't get a shot up until the 14:20 mark.

Dayton pushed the lead 17-6 after Lalor drained a shot from beyond the arc at 11:11.The Flyers would then go on an 8-0 run that was eventually snapped after Janessa Wolff went to the line and sunk two shots and Brianne O'Rourke netted a jumper as Penn State climbed back, 19-10.

Lalor would continue to light it up from downtown with her third trey of the game at 8:45 to make it a 24-12 game with 8:45 remaining. The Lady Lions connected on back-to-back threes from O'Rourke and Emily Phillips to close the gap 29-22, but UD would hold on to the lead, 35-26, into the break.

Dayton finished the frame shooting a strong 15-of-30 (50 percent) from the field compared to Penn State's 8-of-31 (26 percent). The Flyers had 10 points off the bench and dominated points in the paint, 14-6.

Penn would edge its way back in the second stanza and went on a 8-0 spurt in a little over a minute to bring the score within two points, 44-42, with 10:48 left to play.

The Lady Lions took their first lead of the game after a jumper from Mashea Williams at the 9:33 mark (46-44). But Dayton would take it back on a Kristin Daugherty three at 8:22.

Penn State would bring it as close as two points in the final 10 seconds of the game and Tyra Grant would get up a last second trey in the final two, but Dayton would hold on for the win, 67-66.

The Flyers will open up the home portion of the season on Wednesday, Dec. 10 against the Miami Redhawks. Dayton and Miami will tip-off at noon ET in a game that can be followed with Gametracker and video streaming at www.DaytonFlyers.com. The contest is part of an educational day called "Learning Can Take You Higher, When You Do It with Rudy Flyer." Schools from the Dayton area will take part in the festivities.