Dayton Flyers

Senior Kendel Ross's 17 points and nine rebounds weren't enough Sunday, as the Flyers fell to #19/23 Louisville 65-63 at UD Arena. The loss is the first of the year for UD after they opened the season with a three-point win over #10 Michigan State.

Junior Kristin Daugherty finished with 12 points, and sophomore Casey Nance added nine points and11 rebounds. As a team, the Flyers went 20-63 from the field and forced 22 Louisville turnovers.

For the Cardinals, sophomore Monique Reid led all players with 18 points and 14 rebounds, while LaToya Johnson and Asia Taylor each tallied 10 points of their own.

The teams went back and forth in the first half, but Dayton was able to grab the momentum going into the locker room. Louisville was inbounding the ball with eight seconds to go under UD's basket, and the Flyers forced a five-second call. With Dayton grabbing the possession, Patrice Lalor drove to the basket, and kicked out to Ross, who hit the three at the buzzer to tie the score at 30.

There were 12 lead changes in the game. UD took the largest lead for either team (60-53) with 4:53 left in the game, but an 8-1 Cardinal run tied it at 61 with 2:25 to go. The two teams traded empty possessions until with UD on the offensive, Ross got the rebound off a Daugherty miss, got fouled, and knocked down both her free throws to give the Flyers a 63-61 lead with 37 seconds to go. But Louisville answered with a three by Becky Burke to give the Cardinals the 64-63 lead with 18 seconds left.

Ross missed the potential go-ahead three on the ensuing possession, Reid hit one of two free throws with five seconds to go and then Ross' desperation heave from mid-court was just short, as was the Flyers' second big upset bid in as many games.

Dayton returns to action against Georgetown on November 20 when they travel to West Lafayette, Ind. to compete in Purdue University's BTI Classic.

Written by Dan Vohden '11