ST. LOUIS – Saint Louis shot a blistering 60 percent from the field in the second half and outscored Dayton 23-9 over the final 6:02 of the fourth quarter in an 80-69 Atlantic 10 Conference victory over the Flyers Sunday afternoon at Chaifetz Arena.
 
Julia Martinez (7-of-10 FG, 4-of-4 FT) scored a game-high 18 points, made a career-high eight steals – one shy of the school record – and added five rebounds, four assists and two blocks.
 
Martinez broke into SLU's career top 10 for steals, tying Star Jackson (1999-2003) for ninth place with 142. Her 66 thefts this year rank third on the Billikens' single-season list.
 
Brooke Flowers (5-of-9 FG) tossed in a season-high-tying 15 points, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds and registered six blocks, powering the Billikens to a school-record 13 rejections. Flowers' double-double was her fifth of the season and 32nd of her career, and her double-digit rebounding total was the 49th of her career.
 
Kyla McMakin tallied all 16 of her points in the second half. Kennedy Calhoun (5-of-9 FG) contributed 11 points, matched her season best of six rebounds and collected five assists and three steals.
 
Peyton Kennedy (4-of-6 FG) and Mia Nicastro chipped in nine and eight points, respectively, for the Billikens, whose 48.4 percent (30-of-62) shooting performance was their best in an A-10 game this season. SLU also continued its hot foul shooting, connecting on 80 percent (16-of-20) from the stripe.
 
Sixteen of Dayton's 22 turnovers were Saint Louis steals, and the Billikens capitalized by outscoring the Flyers 26-13 in points off turnovers.
 
Following a first half that produced a combined 36-percent shooting effort and a 27-24 Dayton lead, both teams picked up the offensive pace after intermission.
 
A 7-0 spurt that took just 41 seconds put Saint Louis in front 33-30 with 8:28 left in the third quarter. Ten more lead changes and three ties ensued during the remainder of the period, which ended with the Billikens holding a slim 50-49 lead.
 
The back-and-forth continued into the final 10 minutes. Trailing 63-61 with less than five minutes remaining, the Billikens tied it on a Nicastro jumper and took the lead for good – the sixth lead swap of the fourth quarter – on Calhoun's driving layup.
 
Those buckets sparked a 12-0 spurt that gave SLU its first double-digit lead, 73-63, with just under a minute left, and the Bills stretched the margin to 14 before settling for the final score.
 
Dayton led 12-7 after one quarter and built the gap to nine points twice late in the second. But baskets by Flowers and Kennedy and two Martinez free throws made it a three-point game at the break.
 
Up next for the Billikens is a trip to Pittsburgh to face Duquesne Wednesday, Jan. 18, at 5 p.m. Central.