DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women’s basketball team won 69-38 in their opener against the Bowling Green State Falcons at UD Arena on Friday night.
The Flyer defense set the tone from the beginning with back-to-back blocks by redshirt senior Elle Queen and senior Casey Nance on the Falcons’ first possession. The Flyers forced the Falcons into 12 first half turnovers and limited them to convert just 8-of-27 first half shots (29.6%) enroute to the victory. The Falcons had a first half field goal drought of 9:51, which erased a Flyer deficit of 4-3 into a 22-8 Flyer lead with 8:16 remaining in the first half. The Falcons’ previous field goal came at the 18:07 mark.
For the game, the Flyers limited the Falcons to shoot just 24.6 percent from the field as they converted just 14-of-57 shots. The Flyers also forced 24 Falcon turnovers. The Flyers took advantage with 21 points off of those turnovers.
Senior De’Sarae Chambers hit the first field goal for the Flyers on a three-point basket from the right wing with 18:33 remaining in the first half to give the Flyers a 3-2 lead.
Senior Patrice Lalor hit her first shot of the half on a stop-and-pop jump shot in the middle of the key, giving the Flyers a 7-4 lead with 17:25 left in the half. Lalor also scored the next basket for the Flyers on a nifty crossover, which set up an open three from the top of the arc to push the Flyer lead to 10-4. Lalor had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from downtown in the first half. Lalor was the game’s leading scorer with 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from the field and dished out four assists.
Freshman Ally Malott converted her first collegiate basket on a fastbreak lay-up on an assist by Queen. That basket, with 14:47 remaining in the half, gave the Flyers a 12-6 lead. The basket started a 12-0 Dayton run over the span of seven minutes and 31 seconds.
Senior Justine Raterman scored her first basket and was fouled with 4:11 left in the half. The three-point play gave the Flyers a 29-10 lead.
After that basket, Bowling Green went on a little run of their own toward the end of the first half. The 7-0 run over the span of one minute and 12 seconds cut the Flyer lead to 29-17. That was the closest the Falcons came for the remainder of the game.
UD led 37-19 at the half after Lalor found Chambers for a spot-up three with 43 seconds left in the half.
Raterman knocked down the first Flyer field goal of the second half with 18:21 remaining to give the Flyers a 39-19 lead. Another basket from Raterman with 12:31 left gave UD a 48-26 lead. Raterman finished with seven points and a team-high 12 rebounds.
With 9:07 remaining in the half, Malott hit her first career three-pointer from the corner on a feed by Queen. The basket gave the Flyers a 53-26 lead. Malott scored again on a fastbreak lay-up on an assist by Samantha MacKay to give the Flyers a 57-28 lead with 6:24 remaining. Malott had an impressive debut with 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and six rebounds.
Junior Olivia Applewhite converted a jumper in the paint to give the Flyers a 59-28 lead with 6:02 left, and then on the next possession she drained a three from the left wing to push the Flyer lead to 62-29. Applewhite finished with seven points and five rebounds.
Freshman Andrea Hoover made her first collegiate basket on a lay-up with 3:46 remaining to give UD a 64-32 lead. Staci Senior Willis hit the last Flyer basket with 27 seconds remaining to push the Flyer lead to a final of 69-38.
The Flyers dominated the rebounding battle 52-42, led by Raterman’s 12 boards. The Flyer bench outscored the Falcon bench 25-4, and the Flyers outscored the Falcons 30-8 in the paint.
The Flyers return to the court on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Toledo. The Flyers do not return to UD Arena again until Dec. 4 vs. Boston College.
Written by Athletics Communication student intern Qasim Rizvi
