KALAMAZOO, Mich. – In the final home game of 2025, the Western Michigan University women's basketball team fought to the final buzzer in a close 65-58 loss to the Dayton Flyers.

A week and a half after setting a new career-high, sophomore guard Alli Harness put up a new personal best to lead the Broncos with 23 points. WMU trailed by only three points four times in the last seven minutes but weren't able to find the extra push to knock off Dayton. For the seventh game in a row, sophomore guard Kailey Starks poured in double figures for the Brown and Gold while senior guard Alli Carlson led the team on defense.

It was a slow start on Thursday night as the first field goal of the game came almost two and a half minutes into the first quarter. The lead was swapped four times over six minutes with Dayton coming out on top after 10 minutes. But the Flyers only led by a basket as Starks made a last-second driving layup to make it a 12-10 game.

Harness was hot early in the second quarter for the Broncos with back-to-back triples giving WMU its lead back. The lead was traded again as Dayton made a three and the Brown and Gold responded with a three-point play of their own. But Western Michigan's lead only lasted for a few seconds before the Flyers rattled off a six-point run to retake the lead.

The Broncos went over five minutes without a field goal in the second quarter, not getting back on the board until the final minute of the half. Dayton matched WMU with back-to-back three-point plays in that final minute, putting the Brown and Gold down by seven going into the locker room.

Western Michigan's offense controlled early in the second half, outscoring the Flyers 6-2 in the first three minutes. The Bronco defense kept Dayton from getting out on a scoring run for over half of the third quarter. But the Flyers put together a nine-point run as WMU again went cold midway through the frame for the first double figure lead of the night.

The Brown and Gold got the game back into single digits with 1:15 left on the clock, outscoring Dayton 6-2. Western Michigan still trailed by seven points with the final 10 minutes to go.  

The Flyers had the first bucket of the fourth quarter, but Harness hot hand returned to make it a three-point game. Back-to-back triples for Harness in the first three minutes had the Bronco offense buzzing as she added a driving layup over a minute later. But Harness was the only WMU player having success at the rim as she scored 11 straight points for the Brown and Gold.

Another player wouldn't have a bucket for Western Michigan until sophomore forward D'Myjah Bolds made a layup off a Dayton turnover with 1:19 on the clock. Bolds layup made it a 57-54 game, but the Flyers scored six points to put the game out of reach for the Broncos. Harness added two more layups to end the game for WMU as they fell to Dayton 65-58.

The Brown and Gold play their final non-conference game to begin the week of Christmas on Monday, Dec. 22. Western Michigan will face its second ranked opponent of the year on the road as the team travels to Columbus, Ohio to take on the #21 Ohio State Buckeyes. Tip-off from Value City Arena on Monday for the Broncos is set for 6:30 p.m.