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Justine Raterman, who leads UD with 12.5 ppg this season, put up 21 points in Dayton's win against La Salle |
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA – Justine Raterman scored 21 points, leading the University of Dayton to a 62-46 win at Tom Gola Arena Saturday. With the victory the Flyers improve to 23-6 overall and 11-3 in Atlantic 10 action. More importantly, UD secured second-place in the conference standings, its best finish since joining the A-10 in 1995-96.
With the No. 2 seed, the Flyers earn a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Championships held March 5-8 in Upper Marlboro, Md. The Flyers will be back in action on Saturday, March 6 at 5:30 p.m. ET against the winner of the game between the No. 7 and No. 10 seeds.
Kristin Daugherty and Casey Nance also reached double figure scoring for UD with 12 and 10 points, respectively. Elle Queen came off the bench to grab six rebounds for the Flyers.
The Flyers started the contest with a 7-0 run, holding La Salle without a basket until five minutes into the contest. The Explorers cut the lead to 15-14, with 6:43 left in the half after a three-pointer by Ashley Gale. UD answered with a 10-0 run to widen their lead to 11, culminating in a fast break jumper by Patrice Lalor to put the Flyers ahead 25-14 with 2:17 to play until the intermission.
Queen sank two free throws at 38 seconds to equal Dayton’s largest lead of the half, giving the Flyers a 29-18 advantage. UD was a perfect 10-for10 from the free throw line in the opening 20 minutes.
The Flyers led by double digits the entire second half, including their largest lead of the game, 55-38, after a jumper by De’Sarae Chambers with 6:05 left to play.
Dayton shot a season-best 95.2 percent (20-of-21) from the free throw line, led by Raterman’s flawless 9-of-9 from the line. In addition to her game-high 21 points, Raterman also led the way with seven rebounds and four steals to tie her career high in thefts.
The Flyers outrebounded the Explorers 38-21; the 21 rebounds allowed by the Flyers is a season-best. They doubled them up on the offensive boards, taking 16, compared to La Salle’s eight. This allowed Dayton to outscore La Salle 21-2 on second chances points.
POSTGAME QUOTES
Head Coach Jim Jabir
On finishing second in the A-10 standings, UD’s best finish since joining the conference
“I am really proud of the girls. I’m proud of our administration. When you bring a bunch of people together for a common goal and everyone is unselfish – caring about the goal, rather than their own glory – great things can happen. I’m very pleased to be a part of it.”
On holding La Salle to a season-low 21 rebounds
“That was a goal of ours. I was really happy with our ability to do that. We executed some things very well; we switched on every screen. So, sometimes we would have our point guard on their center and our center on their point guard. Even in doing that we were able to rebound and maintain our discipline. I was very proud of that effort.”
On outscoring La Salle 21-2 on second chance points
“We had an advantage because we were a lot bigger than them. It was good that we took advantage of it and really got after it.”
Justine Raterman’s performance
“She was very active and very aggressive. I’ve been on her lately about being more physical, and today she was.”
On the goals achieved this season
“Finishing second behind a great Xavier team is in the neighborhood we want to be; obviously we want to be regular season champions. We have to continue to work and improve to do that. To have the record we have, the season we’ve had and the national rankings is great, but ultimately, to be invited to the NCAA Tournament, would be the greatest accomplishment of all. We still have an A-10 Championship we can win."
