Box Score
Center Valley, PA (January 21, 2006) – The DeSales University women’s basketball team jumped out to an early eight point lead but a 15-minute stretch without a field goal spoiled the early advantage as the third ranked University of Scranton Lady Royals defeated the Bulldogs, 55-43, in Freedom Conference action on Saturday afternoon.
The win is the 14th straight for the Lady Royals who improve to 16-1 overall and 6-0 in the Freedom, while the loss snaps a six-game home winning streak for DeSales who drops to 9-7 overall and 3-3 in the Freedom standings.
DSU converted just 28.8 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers for the game. Scranton was not much better from the field, canning just 32.7 percent, but held a 43-37 edge on the glass and was 20-of-24 from the free throw line compared to the Bulldogs 9-for-19.
DeSales had complete control of the game thru the first eight minutes opening up a 16-8 lead, making six of its first 11 shots. Freshman LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) led the charge with 11 points including three treys.
Scranton settled down and began to chip away at the lead outscoring DSU 14-4 the rest of the half to lead 22-20. The Bulldogs missed its last 15 shots from the field and scored their final four points from the free throw line. DSU shot just 23.1 percent from the field in the opening half as compared to 34.8 percent for the Lady Royals.
The cold spell continued at the start of the second half with the Bulldogs missing its first three shots and being held scoreless for the first 3:10 as UofS opened up an eight point lead, 28-20. A jumper by sophomore Amanda Kuperavage (Port Carbon, PA/Nativity BVM) ended the drought and a three-pointer by Burke at the 11:56 mark made it a four point game, 35-31, with 11:56 to play.
A 10-2 run by the Scranton over the next three minutes pushed the four point edge up to 12 points, 45-33, and the Bulldogs never got any closer than 10 points the rest of the way. Five different Lady Royals scored during the decisive run that put the game away.
Burke was the lone player in double digits for either team as she totaled 18 points, including four treys. Freshman Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) and junior Kirby Lutz (Easton, PA/Pen Argyl) each had eight points with Lutz grabbing a team-high eight boards.
No one reached double figures for the Lady Royals as junior Allison Matt and sophomore Michelle Fabio each scored nine points to lead the attack. Junior Tiffaney Williams added eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds and junior Taryn Mellody totaled seven points in just 16 minutes of action.
DSU returns to action on Monday, January 23rd as they host Gwynedd-Mercy College in a non-conference game beginning at 7:00 pm in Billera Hall.
