Feb. 5, 2006

Final Stats

DAYTON, OHIO - A gutsy defensive effort and aggressive play on the offensive end fueled a late rally by the St. Bonaventure women's basketball team, but it wasn't enough as the Bonnies fell, 66-63, in dramatic fashion to Dayton on Sunday afternoon at UD Arena.

With the score 50-38, the brown and white started to mount their comeback when they used a 9-2 spurt, highlighted by seven points from senior Stefanie Collins, to cut the Dayton lead to seven at 52-45 with 4:58 remaining. Freshman Chere Marshall capped the run with a baseline reverse lay-up.

The Flyers pushed the lead back to 11, but a three-pointer by junior Audrey Latendresse and a lay-up from freshman Katelyn Murray quickly made it a two-possession ball game, 57-51, with 3:11 left. Three straight points by Dayton ballooned the lead back to nine, but the Bonnies refused to give up. The brown and white would score the game's next six points to cut the lead to 60-58 with 56 ticks left on the clock.

The final minute of the game became a free throw shooting contest as St. Bonaventure connected on 5-of-6 from the line while Dayton hit 4-of-4 leading up to the dramatic finish. After Murray hit one-of-two from the line, the Bonnies quickly fouled sending Karah Cloxton to the charity stripe with eight seconds left. Cloxton missed both free throws and freshman Ashley Edwards gathered the rebound to give St. Bonaventure one last chance. Edwards' outlet pass found Marshall and her last second three-pointer came up short.

Despite their shooting woes to start the game, the Bonnies tied the score at 7 thanks to a three-pointer by freshman Erica Schiefen and good defense. The brown and white forced Dayton into seven turnovers during the opening seven minutes.

After two straight Flyer baskets, junior Audrey Latendresse scored six consecutive points to give the game its third tie of the half at 13 with 9:35 remaining.

Dayton outscored the Bonnies 15-7 the rest of the way to take an eight-point advantage, 28-20, at the break.

St. Bonaventure connected on just 25 percent (9-36) of its shots from the field in the first half, but good defense forced Dayton into 13 turnovers. The Flyers shot 39 percent (10-26) from the floor in the opening stanza.

Latendresse finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Collins drained 3-of-7 from beyond the arc en route to 14 points, while Ashley Edwards just missed a double-double with eight points and a game-high 12 boards. Murray scored nine points and Marshall chipped in seven points in 19 minutes of action off the bench.

The loss drops the Bonnies' record to 8-13 overall and 2-8 in the conference. With the win, Dayton improves to 15-6 and 7-3 in the A-10.

St. Bonaventure will return to action at Charlotte on Friday, Feb. 10. Game time is slated for 7 p.m.