DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women’s basketball team surged from the tip and never looked back as they led the entire game to defeat Harvard 101-80 Thursday at UD Arena in front of 1,505 fans.
Senior Kristin Daugherty led four Flyers in double figures with 17 points. Freshman Cassie Sant had a career-high 14 points, sophomore Kari Daugherty had 13 points and sophomore Olivia Applewhite added 11. Twelve Flyers scored in the game, including eight players with at least eight points. The Flyers shot 52 percent from the field, 47 percent from the three and 76 percent from the foul line. The Flyers outrebounded the Crimson 42-39 and forced 23 turnovers. The Flyers scored 31 points off of Crimson turnovers and the bench scored a staggering 55 points.
Sant scored a career-high 14 points as she went 5-of-6 from the field and pulled down four rebounds. Two three-point plays and Sant’s first three-point basket of the season highlighted her career night.
Dayton opened the game on a 13-2 run. Seven of the first 12 points were scored by Kristin Daugherty. Dayton scored 15 points before the first media timeout at the 15:30 mark of the first half and held a 15-6 lead. The Flyers connected on 10 of their first 16 shots, including a perfect four-of-four from Kristin Daugherty. Of those first 10 shots connected on by the Flyers, junior Patrice Lalor assisted on four of them.
The Flyers led 35-18 with 8:34 remaining in the first half after Sant connected on a three-point basket and redshirt junior Elle Queen followed with a fastbreak layup. The Crimson responded by going on a 12-4 run to cut the Flyer lead to nine with 4:55 remaining in the first half. Queen calmly responded by sinking two free throws to push the Flyer lead back into double digits. Junior Casey Nance added a layup to stretch the Flyer lead to 13 with 4:17 left in the first half. In fact, the Flyers would go on a 7-0 run over a span of two minutes and thirty-two seconds to put the lead at 16. The Flyers held a 53-36 lead at the half after Kari Daugherty scored on a three-point play with 9.4 seconds left.
The Flyers opened the second half just like the first by going on an 8-2 run as Kristin Daugherty sank two three-pointers. Daugherty connected on six of her first seven shots, including a perfect three-for-three from downtown.
The Flyers stretched the lead to 69-45 after a trey by redshirt sophomore Brittany Wilson with 14:39 left in the game. A lob from Kari Daugherty resulted in a three-point play by Sant, which gave the Flyers an 83-56 lead with 9:26 remaining. Sant produced another three-point play after a feed from Applewhite with 8:33 left to give Dayton an 86-59 lead. The Flyers stretched the lead to 31 after a fastbreak layup from sophomore Sam MacKay with 6:54 remaining. After a Harvard basket, Kari Daugherty sank a three-point basket to push the Flyer lead to 32 with 6:24 left.
The Flyers hit the century mark after junior Kayla Moses sank a free throw to put the UD lead at 100-69. It’s the third time this season the Flyers have scored at least 100 points.
Carroll High School product, Brogan Berry, scored 15 points for Harvard. The junior guard from Beavercreek, Ohio connected on 5-of-8 shots and had a large support from family and friends in attendance.
The Flyers have won three in a row to improve their record to 8-5 on the season. They are back in action on Monday, Jan. 3 at Boston College in their final non-conference game. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET.
Written by Qasim Rizvi, Class of 2013
