Flyers force overtime, but can’t finish

University of Dayton women’s basketball coach Shauna Green knew there would be days like this as she tries to replace point guard Jenna Burdette, a four-year starter.

The Flyers, playing from behind much of the game, forced overtime Saturday against Northeastern but fell 84-79 at UD Arena.

Dayton (1-2) made a dash down the stretch in regulation to force the extra frame despite hitting just 7 of 14 free throws in the final four minutes. Araion Bradshaw tied it 60-60 with 50 seconds remaining and Jayla Scaife answered a Northeastern basket with a pair of free throws with 26 sec- onds remaining for a 68-all tie before the Huskies missed a shot at the buzzer.

Northeastern (3-0) jumped to a 77-70 in overtime before forward Kyla Whitehead hit a short turnaround to get Dayton within five points with 1:51 to play.

Shakeela Fowler ran off six straight to cut the defi- cit to 80-79, but the Flyers were never able to get over the hump.

“I thought we fought back,” Whitehead said. “We didn’t back down. When we face tough situations, we’ve got to be ready to handle them.”

Dayton trailed by as many as eight in the first quarter. The Flyers committed eight turnovers and six fouls and spent 8:24 of the period trailing, finally closing the gap to 22-15 just before the end of the quarter.

Dayton briefly took a 25-24 lead in the second quarter on a basket by Scaife with 7:23 remaining, but Northeast- ern closed on a 5-4 run to take a 29-28 lead at halftime.

Julia Chandler tied it 49-49 late in the third quarter, but Northeastern’s Jess Genco hit a runner in the lane at the buzzer for a 51-49 Huskie lead heading into the final 10 minutes.

Scaife led Dayton with 19 points, while Fowler added 15 and Whitehead and Chandler had 14.

Dayton hosts Toledo at 7 p.m. Wednesday.