DAYTON – The University of Dayton women's basketball team played its home opener at UD Arena today against Akron. The Flyers faced a 15-point, first-half deficit, and their furious comeback came up just short as they fell to the Zips, 77-74.

The Flyers drop to 1-1 with the loss and the Zips are undefeated at 3-0.

KEY MOMENTS
1st  – The Zips hit seven treys in the first quarter and held their largest lead of the game, by 17 points, after Akron hit its seventh triple with 21 seconds left to play in the quarter.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1^st Quarter: Dayton 16, Akron 33

• Freshman Makira Cook scored the first points of the game and the first in her Flyer career with a layup at the 8:54 mark.
• The Zips went 4-of-5 from behind the arc and also hit a two-pointer to take a 16-8 lead with 5:39 on the clock, forcing a Flyer timeout.
• Back-to-back layups by freshman Tenin Magassa cut the lead to 16-10 at 5:26.
• Akron drained a three and made a jumper after a UD turnover to push the Zips lead to 27-13.
• After a Magassa made free throw, redshirt Nadjy Tyler scored the first points in her Flyer career with 27 seconds left in the quarter. That was sandwiched by two treys by the Zips, including one with 21 seconds left, to take their biggest lead of the game.
• Akron went 7-of-9 from 3FG range in the first quarter, a 77.8% clip.
• Six Flyers scored in the opening quarter, led by Magassa's five points.

2^nd Quarter: Dayton 37, Akron 52

• The Flyers used a 9-2 run, including a three-pointer by redshirt senior Erin Whalen, to start the second quarter and cut the lead to 35-25, forcing Akron to call a timeout at 6:52.
• Redshirt senior Jenna Giacone hit a three to cut the lead to single digits, 39-30, with 4:20 left to play in the half.
• The squads traded back-to-back three pointers then the Zips took a 50-35 lead on their 10^th made trey of the half. Akron ended up 10-of-15 (66.7%) from three-point range in the first half. The Flyers were 4-of-10 (40%) from three and 15-of-28 (54%) overall.
• Whalen scored on a driving layup with 39 seconds left to play, but the Zips answered with a second-chance basket of their own with nine seconds to take a 15-point lead, 52-37, into halftime.
• Whalen led all Flyers with 13 points in the first half.
• Dayton outrebounded Akron 16-12 in the first half. Redshirt senior Araion Bradshaw led UD with five rebounds and also had a team-high four assists at the half.

3^rd Quarter: Dayton 57, Akron 62

• The first points of the second half came on a free throw from freshman Capria Brown at the 8:23 mark. It marked her first point as a Flyer as well.
• The Flyers used a 12-5 run to cut the lead to single digits. Giacone crashed the boards for a second-chance layup and UD's following offensive possession drained a three, forcing an Akron timeout, with the Zips holding a 57-49 lead with 4:28 to play in the quarter.
• Whalen scored nine points in the third quarter, including a layup with 57 seconds left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 62-57.
• The Flyers held the Zips to no points in the last 2:23 of the quarter. Dayton also took advantage of five offensive boards in the quarter which led to six second-chance points.

4^th Quarter: Dayton 74, Akron 77

• A jumper by sophomore Mariah Perez cut the lead to three, 64-61, with 7:33 to play in regulation.
• At the five-minute media, Akron held a 73-65 lead.
• Over 2:47 the Flyers used a 6-0 run and forced five turnovers holding the Zips scoreless for 3:56.
• A Cook free throw at 2:38 made it a single-possession game, 73-70.
• Tenin made two clutch free throws with 38 seconds to cut the lead to 74-72.
• The Flyers then forced a turnover with 36.6 seconds in regulation.
• Back-to-back misses forced the Flyers to foul. Akron hit both to go up, 76-72 with 10.2 seconds to play.
• Giacone hit a layup to cut it to 76-74 with .8 seconds and the Flyers fouled with .1 on the clock. Akron made 1-of-2 free throws to go up 77-74 but .1 was not enough time for Dayton to attempt the game-tying shot.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
26 – Erin Whalen was just one point shy of her career-high with 26 points on 9-of-20 shooting.
16 – Jenna Giacone scored in double figures as well with 16 points, two shy of her career high.
11 – Araion Bradshaw tied her career high with 11 rebounds and also had a team-high and season-high seven assists.
29 – Dayton shot 29 percent (6-of-21) from behind the arc, while Akron shot 52 percent (13-of-25).
44 – The Flyers dominated on the boards with 44 total rebounds, including 16 offensive boards, compared to just 28 total (3 offensive) for Akron.
15 – Tenin Magassa had nine points, four blocked shots, and four rebounds in 15 minutes of action.

KEY STATS
13 – The Zips knocked down 13 three-pointers, including 10 in the first half. They shot 52 percent from three-point range.
10 – The Flyers missed 10 free throws. They were 16-of-26 (62%) from the free throw line.

UP NEXT

• The Flyers will play at Charlotte on Thursday, Dec. 10 at 4 p.m. ET.