BURDETTE SCORES 33 TO SPARK UD WOMEN PAST SAINT LOUIS
UD tops century mark for the second time in four games.
Future opponents of the Dayton women’s basketball team take note.
The Flyers have found their groove.
Consider the numbers from their 101-76 Atlantic 10 win over Saint Louis on Sunday afternoon at UD Arena.
■ The 101 points was the second time in four games they have topped the century mark.
■ Dayton outrebounded Saint Louis 63-36.
■ The Flyers had a 22-5 edge in offensive rebounds, which led to a 31-2 difference in second-chance points.
■ Dayton turned the ball over just eight times.
■ Six Flyers finished in double figures.
“We are just really clicking,” guard Jenna Burdette said after scoring a careerhigh 33 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. “Our defense leads to our offense and right now we are doing a really good job of sharing the ball.”
Burdette and Lauren Cannatelli were a two-person wrecking crew in the first half as Dayton turned a slow start into a 50-34 halftime advantage.
The duo combined for 34 first-half points.
“I knew we were both feel- ing it,” Burdette said with a smile. “We have been feeling it. We have been getting extra shots up and staying focused.”
St. Louis never got closer than 11 in the second half.
The Billikens (8-9, 2-2) closed the gap to 60-49 with 4:54 remaining in the third quarter, forcing coach Shauna Green to call a timeout, but the Flyers ran off 19 of the final 29 points in the quarter.
With time running down, Javonna Layfield drove the lane and beat the clock with a scooping shot with one second left for a 79-59 lead.
The Dayton bench erupted in cheers when the Flyers went over the 100 point mark with less than a minute to go.
“We get really excited about it when we do it,” Burdette said. “St. Louis is one of our rivals and in the back of our mind we know how good they are.
“We knew we had to focus and keep playing the game.”
In addition to Burdette’s career high, Cannatelli fin- ished with 19, Layfield 15, Alex Harris had 12 points to go with 14 rebounds, and Jayla Scaife and Jordan Wilmouth each had 11.
Dayton returns to action Wednesday at Fordham in a showdown between A-10 co-leaders before hosting George Washington on Jan. 21.