Dec. 29, 2007
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DAYTON, Ohio - The Dayton Flyers women's basketball team used a well-balanced team effort to defeat the Cornell Big Red, 74-58, in the second game of the Dayton Flyer Classic on Saturday at UD Arena. Sophomore forward Kelly Keil posted her first career double-double to help Dayton advanced to Sunday's title game against Central Michigan. The victory also stretched Dayton's win streak to 12 games, which is currently tied for the longest in the nation with Arkansas.
Keil posted a career-high 11 points, 10 rebounds and a season-high five blocks in 20 minutes off the bench. Senior Kiki Lund, also a reserve, added 12 points as the Flyers outscored Cornell 44-9 in bench points. Senior Nikki Oakland was the lone starter in double-figures with 12.
UD also dominated the glass. The Flyers outrebounded the Big Red 54-34 and held a 16-3 advantage in second chance points, while also holding the Big Red to 33-percent shooting.
"I thought Dayton played a great game," Cornell Head Coach Dayna Smith said. "I was impressed by their forward play and their balanced offensive attack. I was very disappointed with our shooting and execution in the first half, but I'm pleased with the adjustments we made in the second half."
The Flyers (12-2) dominated the first 13 minutes of the opening half. Dayton established an early lead behind Oakland, who connected on four of her first five shots.
Lund provided an instant spark off the bench with seven quick points as UD opened up to an early 26-10 lead. The Flyers started the game 12-of-23 from the floor and held Cornell to just three field goals in their first 16 tries.
The Big Red (5-4) answered with a 5-0 spurt to cut the lead to 26-15, but the Flyers responded with more sharp shooting. Lund converted on her second three-point basket of the half to give her a team-high 10 points at the break, as Dayton entered the locker room leading 41-22.
Overall in the first half, UD shot 18-of-38 (47 percent) and outscored Cornell 23-0 in bench points. Cornell was held to 8-of-31 shooting (26 percent).
Unlike the first half, Cornell came out of the locker room sizzling to begin the second period. After going 0-of-5 in the first 20 minutes from three-point range, the Big Red sank their first three attempts from beyond the arc in the second half, including two by Kayleen Fitzsimmons.
Cornell opened the half on a 17-8 run and trimmed the deficit to 49-39 with 14:46 left to play. A three-pointer by sophomore Kendel Ross ended the surge and got the Flyers back on track.
The triple by Ross was the beginning of a 9-0 run that once again put distance between the squads. At the 10:09 mark, the Flyers held a 58-39 advantage. However, Moina Snyder led one final Cornell surge. The Big Red turned to full court pressure and Snyder's three-point play with 8:57 remaining pulled Cornell back to within 10 points at 58-48.
Keil energized the Flyers down the stretch. A pair of blocks by Keil at the 7:30 mark dismantled Cornell's attack. Keil was clutch on the offensive end as well. She scored eight of her 11 points in the final 7:39.
"We get contributions from different people every game," Dayton Head Coach Jim Jabir said. "Kiki fired it up in the first half, and then Kelly came in for the second game in a row and did some really good things defensively and on the boards, and scored a little bit and the blocked shots were big as well."
Dayton stretched the lead to as many as 21 points and held on for the 74-58 victory.
Sunday's Dayton Flyer Classic Championship Game between Dayton and Central Michigan at UD Arena will follow the Consolation Game between Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Cornell. The first game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. ET.
