ST. LOUIS – The University of Dayton women's basketball team went to Saint Louis University Wednesday and suffered a 72-63 defeat in Atlantic 10 play.

The Flyers (14-12, 8-7 A-10) were unable to complete the comeback while the Billikens (12-16, 6-9 A-10) got a crucial home win.

GAME BREAKDOWN
1st Quarter: Dayton 15, Saint Louis 13

• The Flyers were the first team to score with a contested bucket from senior Arianna Smith.
• Graduate student Rikki Harris followed with a three before a jumper from senior Shannon Wheeler to give UD a 7-4 lead in the first three minutes of the opening quarter.
• At the media break, Dayton held a 9-6 lead over Saint Louis thanks to four points from Wheeler.
• The Flyers held the Billikens without a bucket for almost three minutes as they controlled both ends of the floor.
• SLU was able to hang with UD and made it a two-point game and a minute left on the clock.
• Dayton shot 58 percent and held Saint Louis to 35 percent in the first 10 minutes.

2nd Quarter: Dayton 30, Saint Louis 33

• The Billikens hit a three to take their first lead of the game, but Smith answered with another contested basket to put the Flyers back on top, 17-16.
• Both teams traded buckets and leads over the next few minutes, with neither team willing to give way.
• UD went on a run and took a 24-21 lead while SLU was on a 2:33 drought and three turnovers.
• Junior Nayo Lear had a strong second quarter with seven points in the first six minutes.
• SLU continued to put the pressure on and after a couple of steals and transition baskets, Dayton trailed 31-28 with just over two to play.
• Dayton only made one three in the first half while SLU had three threes and a 22-17 rebound advantage.

3rd Quarter: Dayton 48, Saint Louis 52

• The Billikens hit a big three out of the locker room and extended their lead to six, but senior Ivy Wolf answered with a three of her own on the next possession.
• Saint Louis controlled the tempo in the early stages of the second half and held a 43-35 lead by the six minute mark.
• Wolf became the first Flyer in double figures with 11 points and added another three out of the media timeout to cut the margin to five points.
• Dayton's first fastbreak points of the game didn't come until the 3:10 mark in the third quarter.
• Wheeler hit a big three at the top of the key to tie it up at 46-46, forcing a SLU timeout with 2:38 on the clock.
• SLU finished the third on a 6-0 run.

4th Quarter: Dayton 63, Saint Louis 72

• The Billikens added to their lead in the opening two minutes with the Flyers not getting their first points of the quarter until the 8:00 mark on a layup by Smith.
• Dayton made it a four-point game at 56-52 with just over six to go.
• The Flyers suffered from a 3:01 drought before freshman Molly O'Riordan converted a pair of free throws to make it 60-56.
• In the end, SLU hit its free throws to clinch the win.

 
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
21 – Ivy Wolf led the way for UD with 21 points to go with six rebounds.
10 and 9 – Arianna Smith had a team-high nine rebounds to go with 10 points, just shy of a double-double.
12 – Nayo Lear scored a season-high 12 points.
19 to 8 – SLU made 20 free throws in the game compared to just 10 for UD.
27-9 – Saint Louis outscored Dayton 26-7 on fastbreak points.
 
UP NEXT
The Flyers return to UD Arena for the final home stand of the regular season when they host Fordham Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1 p.m.

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