FORT MYERS, Florida — The University of Dayton held the University of Maine to 14 first-half points on Friday, setting the tone for a 58-37 women’s basketball victory in the opening round of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
The Flyers (4-0) limited the Black Bears to 21 percent shooting (10-for-47) and came up with 17 turnovers that led to 13 points. It was the lowest shooting percentage for a UMaine women’s team since the Bears shot 19.1 percent in a 95-41 loss at Penn State on Dec. 12, 2010.
UMaine (3-3) did a solid job on the defensive end, limiting the Flyers 26 points under their 83 points-per-game scoring average. Even so, Dayton shot 48 percent (25-for-52) from the floor overall and connected for 38 points from the paint.
Junior guard Sigi Koizar led the Black Bears with 16 points, her 11th straight game tallying double figures. Senior forward Liz Wood added a double-double, the 19th of her career and her second-straight game achieving the feat, with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
However, UMaine scored only eight other points among its remaining players, who combined to shoot 2-for-23 (9 percent). The Black Bears went 12-for-15 from the foul line.
The teams grabbed 33 rebounds each.
Amber Deane tossed in a game-high 18 points and made three steals to propel Dayton. Joe Cornelie netted eight points and Lauren Cannatelli added seven.
Dayton’s defense mixed with some hot shooting got it off to a quick start. UMaine committed seven turnovers in the first quarter and went 0-for-8 from the floor.
Meanwhile, the Flyers shot 7-for-13 to build a 14-4 lead after 10 minutes.
The Black Bears finally settled down early in the second quarter. Wood and Koizar hit 3-pointers 46 seconds apart to slice the deficit to six points and Koizar added a jumper to make it 16-12 with 5:23 left in the first half.
However, Kelley Austria’s block of a Koizar 3-pointer led to a fast-break layup by Deane that ignited a 14-2 spurt that gave Dayton a 32-14 halftime advantage.
The Flyers stretched their lead to 20 early in the third but 3-pointers by Wood and Koizar cut the lead to 38-22. That would be as close as UMaine could get.
The Black Bears will be back in action on Saturday at 11 a.m. when they play Missouri State, which dropped an 82-65 decision to Stanford on Friday.