Box Score BOX SCORE
Grantham, Pa. (December 8, 2007) – The DeSales University women's basketball team was unable to put the finishing touches on a solid first 35 minutes of play seeing its three-point lead turn into a 62-52 loss as #4 Messiah College used a 17-4 run over the last five minutes of play to hand the Bulldogs its second loss of the season on Saturday evening.
This was a classic battle between two of the top NCAA Division III women's basketball programs in the Mid-Atlantic Region over the past 10 years. The match-up featured 11 ties and 21 lead changes as the Bulldogs shot 47.7 percent from the floor but were victim of 23 turnovers, while Messiah shot just 39.3 percent but committed just 16 turnovers and enjoyed an advantage on the free throw line converting 16-of-20 as compared to just 6-of-9 for the Bulldogs.
A back-and-forth first-half featuring six ties and 11 lead changes saw Messiah take a five-point halftime lead on the strength of a 12-4 run over the last 5:27. Senior Nikki Lobach led the surge with eight of the 12 Falcon points during the run.
DeSales started the second half with a spurt of its own scoring the first six points to take a 31-30 lead. Sophomore Kaila Wiand (Collegeville, PA/Spring-Ford) hit a three-pointer, junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) connected on a short jumper and junior Erica Sovak (Tuxedo, NY/George F. Baker) made 1-of-2 from the charity stripe to give DSU the lead.
Down one point, 36-35, Rarick keyed another short DSU run with two jumpers followed by a jumper from sophomore Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) to give DeSales its largest lead of the game, 41-36, with 11:56 remaining.
Once again the teams were back and forth as Messiah fought back to tie the game at 45 when junior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) answered with a three-pointer at the 5:24 mark to give DSU a 48-45 lead.
Following that three-pointer from Burke the Falcons' Lobach took over starting the game ending 17-4 run by scoring the next nine points to give MC a 54-48 lead with 3:04 to go. The two teams traded baskets over the next 90 seconds before DSU was forced to foul as Lobach made two foul shots to post the final margin.
Rarick finished with a team-high 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field to lead the Bulldogs. Senior Jenna Stampf (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame) continued her strong play with 11 points off the bench and Miller finished with six points and a game-high 10 rebounds for DeSales.
Lobach was the lone Falcon in double figures with 27 points on 8-of-14 shooting including an 11-for-12 effort from the charity stripe. Ashley Brooks chipped in with nine points and six rebounds and Angie Rapchinski had eight points off the bench.
DeSales breaks this week for final exams and will resume practice next week and will return to action on Tuesday, December 18th when they host Immaculata University for a non-conference game beginning at 7:00 pm. For those unable to attend you can follow the game online via LIVE stats at the following link – http://livestats.internetconsult.com/desales/wbball/.
