PHILADELPHIA – Saint Joseph's (10-16, 6-8 A-10) battled with league-leading Dayton (22-4, 13-1 A-10) but came up short Wednesday night, 59-43, in the Hawks' home finale.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• SJU outpaced the Flyers up to the media break at 3:27 with the Hawks up, 5-4. Rookie Talya Brugler tallied the final four points to that point. Dayton finished the period up 12-5 after an 8-0 run.
• St. Joe's opened the second period on an 8-2 spurt before a Dayton timeout for the media break with 5:39. The Hawks held a 14-13 lead up to that point. The Flyers finished the period with a 9-2 margin for a 23-15 lead at the half.
• Dayton started the third with a 9-5 advantage before a Hawks' timeout. UD held a 32-20 lead. SJU finished the frame with a 5-4 spurt to close the stanza down 36-25.
• The Hawks cut into the deficit with a 13-10 spurt over the first 4:51, including an 8-0 run over the last 2:08 before Dayton called its second timeout. The Flyers led 46-38 with 5:09 left. The visitors sealed the game with 13 of the final 17 points.

BEHIND THE BOX SCORE:

• SJU shot 26.8% (15-of-56) from the field, 31.3% (5-of-16) from deep, and 57.1% (8-of-14) from the line.
• Dayton finished 37.7% (23-of-61) overall, 29.4% (5-of-17) from long range, and 61.5% (8-of-13) from the stripe.
• The Flyers claimed the rebounding (+7) and turnover battles (+4).
• Brugler paced the Crimson & Gray with 14 points on a 5-of-9 shooting effort. The Nazareth, Pa. native corralled eight rebounds, as well.
• Freshman Laila Fair corralled a game high nine rebounds and added five points.
• Senior Lovin Marsicano and first year Mackenzie Smith each contributed seven points, with the former blocking a pair of shots.

UP NEXT:
St. Joe's concludes the regular season on Saturday at Duquesne.