Box Score BOX SCORE
Center Valley, Pa. (January 23, 2008) – Juniors LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) and Erica Sovak (Tuxedo, NY/George F. Baker) combined for 38 points leading the DeSales University women's basketball team past King's College, 69-60, on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall in Freedom Conference action.
The Bulldogs (14-3, 3-1 Freedom) never trailed in the game taking a 6-0 lead to start and held off several Lady Monarch (8-9, 2-2 Freedom) runs throughout the contest to earn the victory. DSU dominated the glass out-rebounding KC, 43-25, to improve to 12-0 this season when it out-rebounds the opponent and shot a blistering 90.0 percent (18-of-20) from the free throw line in the win.
Leading 20-15 at the 7:48 mark of the first half the Bulldogs used an 11-5 run to push the lead up to 13 points with 2:46 to go. Four different players scored during the run including Burke with a team-high five tallies. The lead went back and forth between 10-13 points the rest of the half before junior Andrea Carroll knocked down a three-pointer with two seconds left and DeSales settled for a 10-point advantage entering the locker rooms.
King's came out strong to open the second half using a 9-0 run to pull within four points, 42-38, after Burke had started the half with a trey but DSU answered with six straight points including jumpers from freshman Megan Montchyk (Bellmawr, NJ/Paul VI), sophomore Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) and Burke to push the lead back to 10 points and eventually built a 16-point cushion with 6:09 on the clock.
The Lady Monarchs rallied with three triples over the final two minutes of the game to pull as close as seven points but junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) and Sovak went a perfect 8-for-8 from the free throw line over the final two minutes to preserve the lead and eventually the win for the Bulldogs.
In addition to her scoring (24 points), Burke was terrific in other areas adding five assists and a career-high tying seven steals in the win. Sovak totaled a season-high 14 points on a perfect shooting night (5-for-5 and 4-for-4) and added six rebounds off the bench.
Rarick finished with 12 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out four assists and Miller totaled six points and a team-high seven rebounds. Sophomore Kaila Wiand (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) also contributed with five points, four rebounds and five assists in the win.
Junior Kaitlyn Fiorino led the Lady Monarchs with 13 points, 11 in the first half, while senior Jenna Palumbo had 12 points to round out the double figure scoring for King's. Senior Andrea Hochstuhl finished with six points a game-high eight rebounds.
The Bulldogs return to action on Saturday, January 26th when they travel to Manhattanville College for a Freedom Conference game beginning at 1:00 pm. For those unable to attend, the Valiants do offer LIVE stats at the following link – CLICK HERE.
