DAYTON, Ohio – The La Salle women's basketball team let an high-scoring first quarter for Dayton get the best of them unable to gain a lead and falling to the Flyers 65-51 on Wednesday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• With a scoreless 1:40 to start the game the Flyers opened the scoring with a 5-0 run to take an early lead over the Explorers. Kayla Spruill opened the scoring drought with a three from the top of the arc to cut the deficit to two, 5-3, at the 7:12 mark. Dayton started on another 5-0 run to build up a seven-point lead, 10-3, that the Explorers cut back down to five off a Gabby Crawford jumper, 10-5. La Salle gave up another three before the media to trail by seven again, 13-5, at the media break. Dayton held the 11-7 edge over the Explorers in the final minutes to take a 24-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• Spruill opened up the second quarter with another three to cut the deficit down to nine, 24-15. Dayton put up for more points, 28-15, before a nearly three-minute scoring drought for both teams broken by a Claire Jacobs driving layup to make it an 11-point game, 28-17. The Flyers converted a three answered with five answered points from Charity Shears to make it an eight-point game at the half, 30-22.
• The Flyers held the 10-7 advantage over the Explorers through the media to start the second half with Claire Jacobs putting up five of the Explorers seven points in the first five minutes. The remaining five minutes mirrored the first with Dayton holding another 10-7 edge to extend La Salles deficit to 14, 50-36, at the end of the third quarter.
• The momentum shifted the Explorers' direction to start the fourth jumping out to a 8-2 run through the first 1:50 to cut the deficit back down to single digits, 52-44, thanks to a six-point effort from Mia Jacobs paired with a key layup from sister Claire Jacobs to force a Dayton timeout. The Flyers pulled ahead back into a double-digit lead with Claire Jacobs answering the call once again for La Salle with a 7-0 solo run to bring it back to six, 57-51. Dayton reextended its double-digit lead defeating the Explorers 65-51.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:

• Claire Jacobs led the scoring for the Explorers with 18 points on 7-of-15 shooting including 1-of-6 from deep and 3-of-3 from the foul line. She added a team-high five steals in the game.
• Spruill also ended the night in double digits with 13 points shooting 3-of-6 from beyond the arc and 5-of-11 from the field.
• Mia Jacobs led the battle at the boards pulling down seven boards.
• La Salle won the turnover battle 16-33.
• Dayton held the advantage at the boards 55-28.

GAME NOTES:

• La Salle is now 16-27 in the all-time series with Dayton and 7-13 when visiting the Flyers at UD Arena. The Explorers now hold an eight-game skid in the series.
• Spruill's double-digit performance marks her fourth consecutive and 17^th overall this season.
• Claire Jacob's now had reached double-figures in 18 games this season. The contest marks her first with 10-plus since recording 18 points against Richmond on Feb. 8.
• Molly Masciantonio has now recorded 17 games with one or zero turnovers.

 
UP NEXT:

• La Salle returns home to Tom Gola Arena at TruMark Financial Center for its final game of the regular season against VCU on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 2 p.m. The team will celebrate its seniors in a special ceremony prior to tipoff.