Bearcats Fall To Flyers

Bearcats women's basketball team falls to Dayton in hardwood action Wednesday night.

CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati women's basketball team dropped a 59-56 decision against Dayton on Wednesday (Dec. 3) night in Fifth Third Arena.

"Rebounds are the most important stat," head coach J. Kelley Hall said. "The team with the most rebounds wins the game 92 percent of the time."

The Flyers (5-3), paced by Casey Nance's 15 rebounds, won the battle of the boards, holding a commanding 46-33 advantage.

Despite the disparity in rebounding, the Bearcats (4-2) were in the game thanks to a defense that forced 18 turnovers and held the Flyers to 36 percent shooting (21-58). UC has not allowed an opponent to score 60 points this season.

The Flyers were led by Justine Raterman's 18 points and seven rebounds. Kristin Daugherty scored 17 and added nine rebounds, and Nance posted her first career double-double adding 12 points to her career-high 15 boards.

Kahla Roudebush (Noblesville, Ind./Hamilton Southeastern) and Angel Morgan (Springfield, Ohio/Springfield North) scored nine points apiece to pace the Bearcats.

"Our defense gave us a chance to win," Hall continued. "We just made three bad plays at the end of the game."

The Bearcats , trailing by one with just under two minutes to play, turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions, the second leading to a fast break layup by Daugherty, who was fouled on the play. She converted the free throw to give Dayton a 57-53 lead with 1:01 to play.

The Bearcats missed on their next possession and were forced to foul. Dayton's Patrice Lalor sank both freebies to push the lead to six.

A Roudebush three cut the lead to three with 15 seconds to play and the Bearcats had a chance to tie after Lalor missed the front end of the one-and-one.

Shelly Bellman's (Ottawa, Ohio/Ottawa-Glandorf) three with two seconds to play caromed off the rim and the Bearcats lost at home for the first time this season.

Eight different Bearcats scored in the contest, but UC shot just 32 percent, including 28 percent in the second half.

The Bearcats welcome Xavier to Fifth Third Arena on Sunday, Dec. 7, at 2 p.m. for the annual Skyline Chili Women's Crosstown Shootout. Tickets are available for $7 for adults, $5 for youth 12 and under, and $3 per person for groups of 10 or more. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Ohio.