Scranton, PA, (January 24, 2005) – The DeSales University women’s basketball not only battled the University of Scranton in a Freedom Conference game on Monday evening but were also forced to battle the elements as well as play two extra five minute periods before falling to the Lady Royals, 80-74, in a thrilling basketball game.

 

        The Bulldogs (12-4, 4-2 Freedom) left Billera Hall at 3:45 for a trip that normally takes one hour and 30 minutes for a 7:00 pm game at the Long Center.  A snow storm, along with two bumper-to-bumper traffic jams caused the Bulldogs trip to last two and a half hours as they made the turn off the Scranton Expressway only blocks away from the gym around 6:15.  A half hour later, the Bulldogs found themselves stuck on an icy hill only six blocks from the gym and were forced to finish its trip by foot finally arriving in the gym at 6:45 pm.

 

        Game time was pushed back 40 minutes allowing DeSales to warm-up and the fun was just beginning.  The Bulldogs opened the game with a 4-2 lead on the Lady Royals (15-1, 6-0 Freedom) before UofS took control with a 10-0 run that gave it an eight-point advantage at 12-4.

 

        The Scranton lead hovered between three and eight points the rest of the half which ended in an extremely bizarre fashion as Lady Royal senior Eileen Webster grabbed a defensive rebound on a missed Bulldogs foul shot and immediately put the ball into her own net making the score 34-27 as both teams went into the locker rooms.

 

        The start of the second half was much of the same as Scranton’s lead grew to as many as 10 points, 42-32, with 15:11 left before a 10-2 DSU run cut the margin to one point, 46-45, with 10:40 remaining.  Scranton continued to lead by one, 52-51, when the evening became that much more interesting.  Midway through Scranton’s possession, the lights went out and the players were left standing in a pitch black gym wondering what would happen next.

 

        After a brief delay, DeSales took control using an 11-0 run over a three minute span to take an eight point lead, 62-54, with 3:24 left to play.  Four different Bulldogs scored including senior Holly Liebl (Kutztown, PA/Kutztown) with lay-ups to start and finish the spurt.

 

        A jumper by sophomore Allison Matt was followed by another jumper by fellow sophomore Taryn Mellody and the lead was cut in half at 62-58 with 2:16 remaining.  After a DSU miss on the other end, Scranton also misfired but grabbed the offensive rebound and Kelly Lewandowski was fouled.  Lewandowski sank 1-of-2 charity tosses and Scranton still trailed, 62-59, with 1:22 left.

 

        A DSU turnover was followed by a missed shot and a turnover from the Lady Royals and DeSales had possession with 47 ticks left.  The Bulldogs were whistled for an offensive foul on their possession giving the Lady Royals the ball back but Mellody missed a long trey attempt and the Bulldogs grabbed the rebound and were immediately fouled with 11 seconds left.

 

        DeSales missed the front end of the 1-and-1 opportunity, Mellody grabbed the rebound, dribbled down the court, pulled up from about 25 feet away and canned the tying three-pointer and we were headed for overtime.

 

        Scranton scored the first four points of the overtime period but DeSales responded with the next seven markers to take a 69-66 lead with 2:59 left.  A three-pointer by Mellody was answered by a trey from senior Jen Netwall (Allentown, PA/William Allen) and DeSales continued to lead, 73-71, with 1:35 left.

 

        UofS missed its first attempt to tie but grabbed a loose ball offensive rebound and Matt converted a 15-foot jumper from the corner to tie the score at 73.  DSU had one more chance to win the game but its tying attempt was blocked and the fans were treated to a second overtime period.

 

        The second overtime was all Scranton as they scored the first seven points and DeSales could only manage one tally as it missed all eight of its shots in the second extra period.

 

        Liebl was fantastic in the losing effort for DeSales as she scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to register her seventh double-double of the season.  Sophomore Kirby Lutz (Easton, PA/Pen Argyl) provided a spark off the bench scoring 15 points and grabbing eight rebounds, while Netwall totaled 12 points and dished out seven assists.

 

        Senior Alyssa Antolick (Bethlehem, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) was held in check as she finished with 10 points and sophomore Jenn Osborne (Allentown, PA/Allentown Central Catholic) scored nine points and grabbed a career-high 15 rebounds.

 

        Mellody led the Lady Royals with a game-high 22 points and also grabbed seven rebounds.  Matt added 18 points, Webster tallied 12, senior Tara Gemmel scored 10 markers and Erin Healy grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds to lead the 6^th ranked University of Scranton to the Freedom Conference win.