Bills Fall Following Gallant Comeback
March 1, 2008
DAYTON, Ohio - Saint Louis made a valiant second-half comeback against Dayton in its regular-season finale Saturday afternoon, but a late run gave the Flyers an 85-75 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over the Billikens at the UD Arena. Dayton (23-7, 9-5 A-10) led by 15 points on three occasions early in the second half, and the margin swayed between 12 and 14 points for several minutes before the Billikens (10-19, 5-9 A-10) began their comeback. Theresa Lisch scored 11 points and Maggie Hennegan added eight in a 24-6 run that erased a 57-43 Dayton lead and put Saint Louis on top 67-63 with 5:40 to play. After Kendel Ross nailed a 3-pointer to put the Flyers back on track, Hennegan grabbed an offensive rebound and fed Amanda Kemezys for a layup and a 69-66 SLU lead. A Kiki Lund trey tied it at 69, but Lisch was fouled on a 3-point try on SLU's next possession and buried all three free throws to give the Bills a 72-69 edge at the 3:37 mark. The teams traded turnovers, then Brittany Holterman made two free throws to slice the Saint Louis lead to a single point, and Nikki Oakland followed with a layup to put Dayton ahead for good, 73-72, with 2:27 remaining. Those two baskets ignited a 16-3 UD run that ended the game. The Flyers' biggest bucket during their final spurt was a 3-pointer by Ross with 47 seconds left that gave Dayton an 81-73 advantage. Hayley Leake scored on three consecutive possessions to cap an 11-2 run that gave the Billikens a 12-6 lead at the 14:30 mark of the first half. Saint Louis held the advantage until a layup by Ross with 10:50 left put Dayton on top 15-14. Later, Ross hit a 3-pointer on the front and back ends of a 10-2 run that gave the Flyers their first double-digit lead, 33-22, with 5:13 remaining.
The Bills twice drew to within seven points the rest of the half, first on a Katie Paganelli 3-pointer and then on a Jackie Gilbert trey with 2:42 left that made it a 39-32 game. Gilbert's triple was the last points SLU would score in the opening period, however, as Dayton tallied the final six markers to take a 45-32 cushion to the locker room. Lisch led all players with 21 points, including an 11-of-13 performance from the free-throw line, and added five assists. Hennegan (6-of-6 free throws) tied her season high with 16 points, and Leake finished with 12. Heather King and Kemezys collected nine and eight rebounds, respectively, to lead the Bills to a 38-37 victory on the boards that included a 20-13 advantage in the second half. Oakland led Dayton with 18 points, followed by Ross with 16, Holterman with 15 and Karah Cloxton with 11. Oakland grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. The Billikens shot 89 percent (23-of-26) from the foul line and committed just 12 turnovers. Dayton earned the shooting edge, connecting on 49 percent from the field to SLU's 39 percent. Saint Louis will play an opening-round game in the Atlantic 10 Championship on Friday, March 7, at Saint Joseph's University in Philadelphia. The Bills' opponent and game time will be determined Saturday night after all A-10 action is complete. |
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