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Lone senior wills UD women to win

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By Kyle Nagel, Staff Writer 9:50 PM Saturday, March 20, 2010

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Kendel Ross had just turned on her cell phone in the blissful University of Dayton women’s basketball locker room as she approached to talk about her 17-point, 11-rebound performance.

She stopped, staring at it.

“Sorry,” Ross said, “my phone is going crazy.”

Texts and voice mails flooded in. She waited a little longer for the buzzing to stop before she flipped the phone closed.

Ross had plenty of well-wishers wanting to discuss her game-changing performance that drove UD to a 67-66 last-second victory against TCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament Saturday, March 20, and propelled the Flyers into a second-round matchup with host and top-seeded Tennessee on Monday.

But early on, it didn’t seem that Ross would have such an effect, as the senior played just nine of 20 minutes in the first half with foul trouble.

But in the final 14-plus minutes, Ross both fulfilled coach Jim Jabir’s premonition about her importance and used the leadership necessary from the team’s only senior to fuel a comeback that led to Brittany Wilson’s game-winning layup with 1.1 seconds left.

“I came all the way to the NCAA tournament; I didn’t want to be sitting on the bench,” said Ross, a 6-foot-1 guard who averages 9.7 points per game. “I really wanted to lead my team, and in the second half, we were down a little more, so I was a little more angry.”

When Ross checked in with 14:48 left, she had five points and four rebounds, and TCU was in the middle of a spurt that would increase its lead to 52-34 with 13:07 left.

Then Ross hit a 3-pointer from the left corner. A few minutes later, she nailed a short baseline jumper, and she followed that with another 3-pointer with 8:22 left to make it 54-48. Then the energy from the 200 or so Flyers fans in Thompson-Boling Arena really got going.

“I kind of felt going into this tournament that we were going to ride Kendel,” Jabir said. “She’s our senior, and she’s one of the most focused people I know.

“I knew she was going to have a significant role, just watching her in practice, the way she shot the ball and how focused she was. She’s just a really good player.”

Although other Flyers would decide the late points — Wilson added the final four, and Ross didn’t score in the last 5:59 — no other UD player provided the energy and leadership that Ross did when she shook off the foul trouble to play the game’s final 15 minutes.

Kristin Daughterty added 10 points, and the deep Flyers bench helped UD get points from 10 different players.

But things really started clicking — UD shot 50 percent in the second half — when Ross started shooting.

“I think my shot likes this gym,” Ross said.

Contact this reporter

at (937) 225-7389 or

knagel@DaytonDailyNews.com

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