DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Dayton dominated the battle of the boards as the Flyers defeated Wichita State, 74-63, Saturday morning at the Daytona Beach Ocean Center.
"We've got to continue to improve our toughness," head coach Terry Nooner said. "They were real physical, big and athletic, so we've just got to do a better job executing against physicality.
"Dayton (4-3), ranked No. 31 in the nation in offensive rebounds coming into the game, outrebounded the Shockers (3-3) 50-27 with Arianna Smith tallying 19 rebounds by herself. The Flyers collected 20 offensive rebounds to the Shockers' 8.
Salese Blow scored a career-high 20 points to lead all scoring, and Tre'Zure Jobe tied her Division I career high with 16 points. Daniela Abies finished in double figures (10 pts) for the fifth-consecutive game as she and Ornella Niankan recorded a team-high 5 rebounds apiece.
Blow led the first-half scoring with 16 of the Shockers' 36 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field and hitting Wichita State's only first-half three after only scoring 5 points against Akron."
Salese Blow was a bright spot for us, especially how she carried us in the first half," Nooner said. "She's a natural scorer. She just knows how to score the basketball, and she's super confident in what she brings to the table in our offensive game, so she knows that if she has a bad day, she's set up to have a good day the next game."
Dayton's Ivy Wolf shot 5-for-8 from three in the first half, putting up 13 points to give the Flyers a one-point advantage at the half.
Dayton went on an 8-0 run early in the third quarter to take a six-point lead, but McCarty hit a three, and the Shockers cut the lead to two before the Flyers went on another 8-0 run to end the quarter with a 12-point lead.
Jobe started to heat up at the beginning of the fourth quarter, hitting a three and a fastbreak layup to bring the Shockers within seven, but the Flyers swung the momentum back in their favor forcing a Shocker timeout with a 6-0 run.
Dayton had 13 rebounds in the fourth quarter, 6 offensive, limiting the Shockers' possessions as Wichita State shot 1-for-9 from the field down the stretch and was unable to score in the final three minutes of the game.
Wichita State returns home for a four-game stretch in Charles Koch Arena starting with Southeastern Louisiana on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 6 p.m.