Santa was not kind to Jim Jabir and the rest of the UD women's basketball team this December. The Flyers lost all six December games, but no defeat came by more than a seven points. Outscored by just 24 points, the Flyers looked to conference play as a chance to change the momentum of the tumultuous season.

Nikki Oakland led the Flyers with 29 points as they traveled south to face Clemson in a post-finals week non-conference matchup on Dec. 19. However, a balanced attack from the ACC squad that featured three players recording double digits in points on the night would stymie Oakland's career night and a Flyer comeback.

Taking on local rival Wright State just three days later, UD found trouble in putting an opponent away. Wright State's 60-59 victory over Dayton marked the first time since 1995 the Raiders dumped the Flyers. The 11-game streak died in thorough second half mediocrity. WSU entered the second half in a tie ballgame but quickly let UD jump ahead with a 9-2 outburst. UD led by seven on three separate occasions in the final 20 minutes, but each lead was chipped away at by the pesky WSU team. Troubles on the charity stripe eventually led to the loss. Nikki Oakland missed a pair of free throws with 22 second left that could have secured the victory but the Raiders won on the heels of a free throw by Sierra Crayton with three seconds left.

In their last regular season tournament of the season, UD headed to Hanover, N.H. to take on a field that included Dartmouth, Boston University and No. 3 ranked Duke in the Blue Sky Classic.

In their first matchup of the tournament, UD squared off against Boston University on Dec. 29. Senior Jennifer Strong has made a career of consistent strong performances which was highlighted by her 1,000th career point, recorded in the 77-74 UD loss. Strong and three other players scored at least 10 points in the loss. The loss meant UD would take on tournament host, Dartmouth, and not nationally ranked Duke. Despite another night which the record book would be rewritten, the Flyers suffered another loss. The 12 three point baskets that were made by the Flyers tied a team record that has been matched on just two other occasions. Kiki Lund led the team with four treys, Karah Cloxton added three and Jennifer Strong and Ashley Armstrong each contributed two. Dartmouth's five scorers with double figures continued the troubled December for the Flyers. Dartmouth eventually pulled away and defeated UD, 76-71. Nikki Oakland was named to the all tournament team.

When the calendar changed from December to January, 2007 gave the team a chance to start anew with an 87-66 victory over St. Francis (Pa.).

The Flyers returned to Dayton and closed out the non conference schedule with a contest against St. Francis. The return to Blackburn Court provided the home cooking the Flyers offense had been looking for. Jennifer Strong and Nikki Oakland led UD with 18 points, respectively. Both Kendel Ross and Marie Rosche recorded new career highs in points as UD pummeled the Northeast Conference opponent 87-66.

'We were happy to get the win and really happy to be able to play a lot of our younger players,' Coach Jim Jabir said following the victory. 'I think they are the future of the program and I thought they finally did some things that we know they are capable of and it's nice to see.'

UD opens the Atlantic-10 portion of their schedule with a rivalry matchup against Xavier tonight at 7 p.m. at UD Arena.