Dayton, OH - After winning two in a row for the first time in 2005 last weekend the La Salle University women's basketball team has now dropped two in a row after falling to Dayton 75-65 today, Sunday, February 13, 2005.

 

La Salle junior Davineia Payne (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) came close to setting a new career high, but fell three points short as she led the Explorers with 23 points. Sophomore Crista Ricketts (Douglasville, PA/Daniel Boone) tallied her third double double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds.  Senior Jill Marano (Crofton, MD/Arundel) was the only other Explorer to score in double figures with 16 points, nine from behind the three point arc.

 

The Explorers led by as many as six points in the first half after scoring eight straight free throws from 11:51 until 7:53. Payne led all scorers in the first half with 14 and senior Meghan Wilkinson (Downingtown, PA/Downingtown) dished out five first  half assists.

 

Dayton came out and scored the first four points of the half to take the lead back for just the second time since the 13:28 mark of the first half. La Salle took its final lead of the game at 15:59 when the score was 40-39. The Flyers then went on an 18-4 run to take a 13 point lead with 9:01 remaining.

 

La Salle went on a 6-0 run of its own to bring the game to within seven points at the 5:54 mark. Dayton however bounced right back and took a 66-56 lead with 4:36 left in the game. La Salle then made a 7-0 run to try and take the game back, but three points was as close as the Explorers came.

 

Dayton finished strong from the foul line making five free throws in the final 1:12. The Explorers however held the edge from the charity stripe as they went 26-35. La Salle was again out-rebounded, this time 46-36 in favor of the Flyers. La Salle shot almost 42% from the field in the first half and just 29% in the second half, finishing 17-48 from the field.

 

The Explorers fall to 10-13 overall and 4-8 in the conference, while the Flyers improve to 11-12 overall and 5-7 in the conference taking a one game lead over the Explorers in the A-10. La Salle will travel to Richmond this Thursday, February 17^th.