TOLEDO, Ohio – The University of Dayton women’s basketball team (1-1) fell behind early and ran out of time in its bid for a comeback, instead falling 61-51 to the 2011 WNIT champion Toledo Rockets (1-0) Sunday at Savage Arena in front of a crowd of 3,467.
Senior Justine Raterman was just shy of a double-double for the Flyers with a team-high 13 points and nine rebounds. Senior Patrice Lalor was the only other Dayton player to score in double figures with her 10 points. She also led UD with four assists. Senior De’Sarae Chambers had a team-high three steals to go along with her seven points and seven rebounds.
Andola Dortch (game-high 17 points) and Naama Shafir (16 points) combined for 33 points to lead Toledo.
After being out-rebounded 26-23 in the first half, the Flyers ended the game with a 44-43 advantage on the boards. Dayton struggled with 24 turnovers.
It took more than six minutes for the Flyers to get on the scoreboard – Raterman converted a layup with 13:43 to play in the first half for UD’s first points. That cut the Rocket lead to 10-2, but UT outscored Dayton 21-7 in the next 11 minutes to hold its largest lead of the game, a 22-point insurmountable spread, 31-9, with 2:16 to play in the half. UT led 31-13 at the intermission with the help of 14 second chance points.
The Rockets, favorites to win the Mid-American Conference, led by 21 points with 18:24 to play when Dayton started chipping away.
UD was able to get the lead under double digits (50-41) with 5:38 left in the game on a pair of Lalor free throws, but Toledo scored five unanswered points over the next three minutes to regain control. The Flyers were able to cut it to nine again at the 1:09 and: 54 marks, and to eight with 33 seconds to go before the final margin settled at 10.
Dayton is back in action on Wednesday, Nov. 16, going the other direction on I-75 to play at Cincinnati. Game time is 7 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on Fox Sports Ohio and broadcast on 1660 Info Radio.
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