DAYTON, Ohio - The University of Dayton women's basketball team opened up its regular season Friday morning with an 81-75 win over the Yale Bulldogs. It was Dayton's annual school day game and 10,159 fans filled UD Arena.
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GAME BREAKDOWN• After opening the game 2-of-14 from the field, Dayton was able to overcome its slow start shooting in the first quarter by using free throws and rebounding. The Flyers were an efficient 8-of-9 (88%) from the line and outrebounded Yale 16-7 in the first quarter.
• Dayton led at the end of the first quarter, 18-13.
• In the second quarter alone, the score was tied on six different occasions.
• The game was tied 40-40 at halftime.
• Dayton opened up the second half with a 6-0 run to take a 46-40 lead.
• Yale answered with a 7-0 run of its own, to regain the lead 47-46 with 6:40 left in the third quarter. That was Yale's last lead of the game.
• Yale tied the game at 71 with 2:19 remaining in the game after two free throws from Nyasha Sarju, who had a game-high 30 points, but Dayton responded with a 9-0 run to take the largest lead of the game and seal the win before Yale was forced to begin fouling.Â
INSIDE THE NUMBERS• The lead did not exceed six for either team until a layup by senior
Amber Deane pushed the lead to eight with just 55 seconds left in the game.
• The game was tied 16 different times and there were six lead changes.
• Four Flyers reached double figures in scoring. Those players were: Deane (19),
Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova (12),
Jenna Burdette (12), and
Saicha Grant-Allen (10).
• 11 different Flyers scored in the game.
• Cornelie-Sigmundova and Grant-Allen led Dayton in rebounding with seven boards a piece, helping the Flyers out-rebound the Bulldogs 42-36.
• Senior
Kelley Austria chipped in four assists for the Flyers, good for a team-high.
• The win marked Dayton's fifth consecutive victory in home openers and its eighth straight overall at UD Arena, dating back to last season.
KEY STAT• 29:17 – Even though the margin of the game was close throughout, Dayton still led Yale for over 29 minutes, compared to just 1:34 spent in the lead by Yale. The game was tied for 9:09.
UP NEXT• The Flyers host Vanderbilt Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 7 p.m. at UD Arena.