Dayton Shuts Down Falcons, 69-38, in Season Opener

Friday, November 11

Dayton, Ohio

7:00 PM

Bowling Green State University

Dayton

Danielle Havel had 10 points, 6 rebounds and 4 steals at Dayton (Doug Sampson photo)

November 11, 2011 | Women's Basketball

By: DAYTON, Ohio (BGSU Athletic Communications)

The University of Dayton opened up an early lead and never looked back, as the Flyers rolled to a 69-38 win over the Bowling Green State University women's basketball team Friday night (Nov. 11). The game, the regular-season opener for both teams, was held at UD Arena.

FINAL STATISTICS: HTML | PDF
POSTGAME AUDIO: Curt Miller

The Flyers held the Falcons to just 24.6 percent shooting in the game, including only a 20.0% success rate in the second half. BGSU made just 14 field goals on the night, committing a total of 24 turnovers.

Additionally, the UD defense held the Brown and Orange without a point for a lengthy stretch in each half. BG went nearly 10 minutes without a fieid goal in the first half and over eight minutes without a point in the second.

Patrice Lalor had 15 points to pace three UD players in double digits. She scored eight of those points in the first six minutes to help the Flyers race out to an early lead.

Redshirt junior Danielle Havel and true junior Chrissy Steffen had 10 points apiece to lead the Falcons.

The visitors scored the first two points of the game, wrapping jumpers by Steffen and Havel around a three-pointer by De'Sarae Chambers. After Havel's hoop at the 18:07 mark, however, the Brown and Orange would not make another field goal for close to 10 minutes.

Casey Nance's layup gave the home team the lead for good, and was followed by a Lalor jumper. Senior Jessica Slagle hit a free throw to cut Dayton's advantage to 7-5, but the Flyers answered with Lalor's triple with 3:36 gone.

A Havel free throw made it 10-6, but the Flyers proceeded to score the game's next 12 points to take command. Sophomore Jill Stein knocked down a jumper with 8:16 left in the half, but the home team's lead was 22-8.

The teams traded hoops, but a Nance layup and a three-point play by Justine Raterman gave the Flyers a 19-point advantage, 29-10, with just over four minutes left before halftime.

The Falcons, however, answered with a 7-0 run. Slagle took a pass from sophomore Jillian Halfhill and knocked down a three-point try from the right elbow. Then, Steffen came up with a steal in front of the BG bench and went coast to coast for a layup at the 3:27 mark. When Stein drove and dished to Havel for a layup, the Flyers' lead was down to 29-17 and UD coach Jim Jabir used a timeout.

Lalor hit two free throws, but Halfhill's jumper cut the lead to 12 points once again. Two treys by the Flyers in the last 90 seconds of the half, however, gave the hosts a 37-19 advantage heading into the break.

The second half saw both teams get off to a slow start offensively. The Falcons were within 17 points after a three-pointer by Slagle on the break with 14:40 left. But, the Flyers would go on a 12-0 run, holding BGSU scoreless for over eight minutes, to take a 55-26 lead

Ally Mallott had 13 points and Elle Queen 10 for the Flyers. Raterman had seven points and a game-high 12 rebounds. UD had a 52-42 margin on the boards.

For the Falcons, Steffen had eight rebounds and four assists to go along with her 10 points. Havel had six boards and a game-high four steals.

Slagle scored seven points and pulled down nine rebounds, while Stein had seven boards and three steals off the bench.

Defensively, the Falcons forced 20 UD turnovers, including 10 in each half. The Flyers shot 39.1% from the field on the night.

The Falcons return to Northwest Ohio to prepare for the home opener. BGSU will host nationally-ranked Purdue University on Thursday (Nov. 17), in the first regular-season women's basketball game at the brand-new Stroh Center.

FALCON NOTES
* BGSU's starting lineup included four players who had never started a collegiate game before Friday night ... junior Chrissy Steffen started all 33 games for BGSU in 2010-11, but Jillian Halfhill, Danielle Havel, Alexis Rogers and Jessica Slagle all were making their first-ever starts.

* The Falcons certainly do not have an easy start to the 2011-12 season ... Dayton is receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN top-25 polls .... BGSU's next opponent, Purdue, is ranked 17th in the AP poll and 21st in the USA Today/ESPN rankings.

* BGSU has enjoyed much success away from home over the last six seasons ... the Falcons are 67-19 in true road games and 95-26 in road and neutral-site games combined over those six years (plus one game) ... but, BGSU has lost the road opener in each of the last four seasons ... BG's last win in the first road game of the year came on Nov. 15, 2007, a 54-42 triumph over Lipscomb.

* The 31-point margin of defeat was the largest loss for the Falcons in seven years ... BG had not lost by such a margin since the 2004-05 season opener, an 89-41 setback at Ohio State in the first round of the Preseason WNIT (Nov. 12, 2004) ... the Falcons bounced back to post a 23-8 overall record and a 13-3 Mid-American Conference mark that season, winning the league regular-season and tournament titles.

* The Falcons' point total at Dayton was the team's lowest in nearly nine years, since a school record-low 30-point output (a 42-30 loss) at Central Michigan on Feb. 5, 2003.

* Four players, including Rogers, made their respective BGSU debuts on Friday night ... Rogers returned to action after sitting out last season ... the Duke University transfer, saddled with foul trouble for most of the night, played only 12 minutes at Dayton

* True freshmen Deborah Hoekstra, Jasmine Matthews and Logan Pastor all saw their first collegiate action in the Dayton game ... Hoekstra had two steals in just three minutes.