Dayton flies Past Rams

DAYTON FLIES PAST RAMS IN A-10 OPENER
Junior Olivia Applewhite Nets Career-High 18 Points

DAYTON, Ohio – The University of Dayton women’s basketball team (9-4, 1-0 A-10) cruised to a 97-46 win over the Rhode Island Rams (1-15, 0-1 A-10) in both teams’ Atlantic 10 conference openers on Saturday at UD Arena.

Dayton trailed 13-7 early in the first half, but outpaced Rhode Island 41-15 in the final 15 minutes of the opening stanza to lead 48-28 at the intermission. UD outscored URI 49-18 in the second half. The 18 points is the fewest the Flyers have allowed in a half all season.

Junior Olivia Applewhite scored a career-high 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting from the field and grabbed nine rebounds. Sophomore Cassie Sant recorded her first career double-double with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and snagged a career-high 11 rebounds. Freshman Ally Malott also finished with double figures, scoring 14 points and grabbing six rebounds.

UD pulled down a season-high 27 offensive rebounds. Applewhite hauled in eight offensive boards while Sant grabbed seven. The duo combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds (15 offensive). For the game, the Flyers out-boarded the Rams 50-36.

The Dayton defense forced a season-high 30 turnovers and converted that into 43 points off of turnovers. The Flyer bench accounted for 66 of the teams’ 97 points, while the Rams’ bench scored just 10 points. UD outscored the Rams 40-20 in the paint and 28-6 in fastbreak points.

Overall, the Flyers converted 34-of-80 attempts from the field (42.5%) while the Rams made 18-of-54 shots (33.3%). UD shot 20-of-24 (83.3%) from the free throw line. Rhode Island shot 8-of-13 from the line (61.5%).

UD also swiped a season-high 17 steals. Redshirt senior Elle Queen and junior Samantha MacKay led the Flyers with four steals each. Senior Patrice Lalor, senior Kayla Moses, Applewhite and Malott each had two steals.

The 51-point margin of victory is the second largest in the Jim Jabir era at UD. Jabir, who has been coaching at UD since the 2003-04 season, coached the Flyers to a 52 point victory, 83-31, over Richmond on Jan. 23, 2010.

The Flyers return to the court on Tuesday Jan. 10 as they take on the Saint Joseph’s Hawks in Philadelphia. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. ET.