Box Score
Center Valley, Pa. (January 6, 2008) – Five players reached double digits and junior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) totaled a game-high 24 points on Sunday afternoon leading the DeSales University women's basketball team past Baruch College (NY), 84-72, in a non-conference game in Billera Hall.
The win is the third straight for DeSales as it improves to 10-2 on the season, while the Bearcats fall to 10-5 on the season with four of its five losses coming to teams that have been ranked or receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll.
The game was back and forth over the first 14 minutes of the first half when the Bulldogs took control for awhile with an 11-0 run that gave DSU a 31-23 lead with 2:19 to play in the opening half. During the run four different players scored including Burke with a team-high five points. Both teams struggled to find the mark over the last two minutes as DeSales enjoyed a nine-point (33-24) halftime lead.
DSU continued to hold a comfortable advantage over the first seven minutes of the half before Baruch scored seven straight points over a 45 second span that cut a 10-point margin down to just three points (49-46) with 11:51 on the clock. A lay-up by sophomore Kaila Wiand (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) halted the mini-spurt and ignited a 9-2 DSU run that also included a Wiand three-pointer and pushed the lead back to 10 points with 9:21 left.
The Bearcats kept clawing however and found themselves down just five points, 66-61, with 3:49 to play, but Burke once again found the touch from beyond the arc on the ensuing possession to push the lead back to eight points and DSU held off Baruch the rest of the way for its seventh straight home win.
Burke scored her 24 points on 8-of-16 shooting and now needs just eight more points to become the 18th player in women's basketball history to reach 1,000-career points. Wiand also reached double digits with a career-high 18 points, 14 of which came in the second half, and also added six rebounds.
Sophomore Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) continued her strong play on the low block recording her seventh double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) narrowly missed her second career double-double with 12 points and nine assists. Senior Jenna Stampf (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame) led the charge off the bench with 11 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
Seniors Dominique McClendon and Chiresse Paradise each had 22 points for the Bearcats in the loss. McClendon also added eight steals and four blocks. Freshman Monique Salmon also reached double digits with 10 points.
The Bulldogs now begin the important part of their schedule as they start Freedom Conference play on Wednesday, January 9th when they host Delaware Valley College at 6:00 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/.
