TOLEDO, OH - Dayton (3-1) outscored Toledo, 37-21, in the second half to secure a 62-50 come-from behind victory Saturday night in non-conference action at Savage Hall. The Flyers shot 55.6 percent (15-of-27) from the field in the final 20 minutes to equal its win total from a year ago.
Trailing 29-25 at the intermission, the Flyers scored the initial five points of the final stanza to take their first lead since mid-way through the first half. UD's Terri Ramsey followed with the second of back-to-back triples as the visitors took a 33-31 lead with 18:40 remaining. Cara Wright then scored seven of Dayton's next nine points to build a 42-37 cushion. After Toledo pulled within three, 43-40, the Flyers went on a 10-1 run as Katie Butler scored four-straight baskets to establish a double-digit lead that they would not relinquish. The Flyers held the Rockets to just nine points in the final 12-plus minutes on the contest, cruising to the 12-point victory.
"Obviously, we had a total breakdown in the second half," Toledo Head Coach Mark Ehlen said. "You can't let people come into your arena and play harder than you. They hit a couple of quick baskets on us, and I felt like we were on our heels the whole second half."
Butler and Wright paced the Flyers with 15 points apiece, including 11 each in the second half.
Junior Crystal Young paced three Rockets in double figures with a career-high 13 points. Other UT players in double figures included senior Karin Hoogendam (12 pts., 6 rbs.,) and freshman Olivia Terry (10 pts.).
Toledo's leading scorer sophomore Danielle Bishop, who came into the game averaging 11.5 points per game, missed all seven of her shots from the field and was held scoreless for the second-consecutive contest.
The Rockets shot just 32.0 percent (16-of-50) from the field as a team, including 27.8 percent (5-of-18) from three-point land.
"We can't score," Ehlen said. "In the last two games our execution has been unbelievably bad. We can't win a game when we can't make two or three passes."
Both teams struggled to get out of the blocks early. A layup by Wright gave UD a 16-13 lead with 8:20 remaining and forced UT into a timeout.
Back came the Rockets, though, as Terry connected on back-to-back three-point field goals to give UT a 22-18 lead with 5:11 left.
Toledo continued on the offensive and a pair of free throws by freshman Jasmine House gave the home team its largest lead of the contest, 24-19, with 3:19 left.
"I thought we started out good defensively, but in the second half they came out and played man to man and we struggled with that," Young said.
The Rockets finished off the first 20 minutes with a traditional three-point play by senior Karin Hoogendam to give them a 29-25 lead at the intermission.
"It is early in the season and I guess that is the good part, but we have a lot of people who don't understand the offensive concepts that we are trying to do," Ehlen said. "We're on an uphill battle right now. We need execution and to improve our confidence. We just have to keep fighting."
Toledo returns to action on Monday, Nov. 29 when it hosts Loyola (IL). Game time is slated for 7:00 p.m. at Savage Hall.
