No. 18 UD Women blast LaSalle 95-47

DAYTON OH. (WDTN) -  

The No. 17/18 University of Dayton women’s basketball team defeated the La Salle Explorers on Wednesday night 95-47 at UD Arena. UD improves to 14-1 overall and 2-0 in the Atlantic 10, while La Salle drops to 5-12 overall, 1-1 A-10.

 

Four different Flyers scored in double figures as Dayton ended the game shooting 57 percent from the field. This is the seventh game this season that Dayton has scored 90 or more points.

 

Freshman Amber Deane and senior Olivia Applewhite each recorded a double-double, the first time two Flyers did this in the same game since Justine Raterman and Casey Nance did it against Richmond on Jan. 25, 2012. Deane finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds while Applewhite finished with 13 points and 10 rebounds. It marks Deane;s second double-double in as many games (she had 18 points and 11 rebounds against Butler).

 

Junior Cassie Sant and freshman Kelley Austria also played a vital role in the offense. Sant finished with 15 points, while Austria tallied a career-high 14 points, four assists and three steals.  

 

Dayton was led in the first half by a balanced attack as every player that got in the game scored.  Sant led the way with 10 first-half points off 4-of-5 form the field. Sophomores Andrea Hoover and Ally Malott and Austria all tallied eight points.

 

Dayton out rebounded the Explorers 22-9 in the first half. Malott and Deane each led the way with five. Dayton also had assists on 18 of its 21 baskets in the first period.

 

Dayton jumped out early with a 14-3 run to start, with six of those points coming from Sant.

 

After La Salle got it to 19-11, Hoover sank a three for her eighth point of the half to ignite a 23-5 run by the Flyers that spanned from the 11:51 marker until the 4:16 point when La Salle’s Brittany Wilson hit a jumper. Wilson, the A-10’s leading scorer was held to just 10 points in the game.

 

Applewhite hit a jumper with 10 seconds left in the half to put the Flyers up 51-22. This was the sixth time all season Dayton has scored 50 points in a half.

 

The Flyers started the second half hot as they began with an 11-0 run. During the run Sant had five points while senior Sam MacKay added four.

 

In the second half, Deane scored 14 of her 20 points to help the Flyers retain their lead.

 

Dayton outrebounded the Explorers 45-33 overall. They also beat La Salle in the paint 60-26 and 36-4 in fast break points.

 

The Flyers return to action on Jan. 20 when they travel to Rhode Island to play the Rhode Island Rams at 2 p.m.