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DAYTON, Ohio – Senior Kendel Ross had a memorable game in Dayton’s 73-61 win over Temple Saturday at UD Arena, becoming just the 19th UD women’s basketball player to reach 1,000 points in her career. She scored a team-high 16 points in a victory that allowed the Flyers to take over second place from the Owls in the Atlantic 10 standings.
Ross reached the 1,000-point milestone in the first half, becoming the second UD player to accomplish the feat in as many weeks; junior Kristin Daugherty reached 1,000 last Saturday against UMass. It marks the first time in UD women’s basketball history that two players got to the 1,000-point mark in the same season.
Dayton improved to 21-6 overall and 9-3 in Atlantic 10 action to overtake the Owls in second place. Temple drops to 20-7 overall and 9-3 in league.
Temple struck first on a LaKeisha Eaddy trey at 19:38, and then the Owls missed their next nine field goal attempts helping Dayton take a 9-3 lead at the 13-minute mark on an Olivia Applewhite jumper in the lane. The Owls finished shooting just 22 percent (8-of-36) in the period.
Sophomore Kayla Moses continues to provide a spark off the bench as she dropped a three just three seconds after coming in the game to give Dayton a 7-3 lead with 14:49 to play. She finished with eight points and three assists.
Ross scored on back-to-back layups, the second giving her 1,000 points in her career, and putting UD up 18-14 with 6:24 left until half. On Temple’s next offensive possession, Ross blocked a Kristie Watkins-Day shot attempt.
Dayton led 31-21 after the first half, but the Owls kept it close and even pulled within three, 43-40, with 14:28 to play in the game. That’s as close as they would get.
A Patrice Lalor loft pass over the Owls defense set Ross up for an easy layup-and-one. Ross completed the three-point play to build the Flyers’ lead to 57-47 with 7:45 to play in the game. Lalor finished with a game-high four assists.
Freshman Kari Daugherty took two offensive charges in the second half, including at the 5:11 mark as Dayton held on to a 59-52 lead and Temple’s leading scorer Kristin McCarthy had the ball on a 2-on-1 fast break. It was part of a stretch in which Temple was kept scoreless for nearly five minutes (from 6:36 to 1:40).
Meanwhile, Elle Queen scored on an acrobatic layup to give Dayton its largest lead of the game, 63-52, with 1:50 to play.
The Flyers went 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 1:17 to preserve the 71-63 victory. They went 20-of-21 from the line, a season-best 95 percent, for the game.
In addition to her team-high 16 points, Ross also had two assists, two steals and two blocks. Kristin Daugherty finished with 12 points and was the only other Flyer to reach double figure scoring, although 11 different UD players reached the scoring column.
McCarthy led all scorers with 18 points, while Marli Bennett had a double-double of 15 points and 11 rebounds.
The Flyers will celebrate their seniors in the last regular season home game, Wednesday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. ET at UD Arena. Four-year letter winner Kendel Ross, along with senior manager Amanda Fischer and senior practice player Brett Mershman will be honored prior to the game.
POSTGAME QUOTES
UD Head Coach Jim Jabir
“I don’t think that we could have won this game without Kendel today. She was absolutely great and added so much intensity on the court.”
“They (Temple) took a lot of shots as the clock was running down. We really tried to hold them off and impose our will on them. We went really hard on them today with our shooting and were able to get a lot of great looks.”
Kendel Ross
“I love playing physical so playing Temple this afternoon was great. They are definitely a tough team and fight really hard and you have to respect that.”
On reaching 1,000 points
“It’s always in the back of your mind and you try not to think about it. It was so nice once I got those six points to just say alright let’s finish this game off. I have had such an incredible experience and now to get to 1,000 points in this arena (UD Arena) is great.”
Kristin Daugherty
“Coming in when we knew we would have to work really hard. They are a very physical team. We were able to give our bodies some rest which was much needed. We came out really strong. We definitely made our mistakes, but overall we came out and were able to get the win. It’s a great feeling to be able to be sitting in second place. We’ve worked really hard and step by step, we are getting closer to our goal.”
