Women's Basketball 11/26/2008 12:28:31 AM BJ Spigelmyer - DeSales SID

Poor Shooting Leads to #9 DeSales First Loss of Season at Moravian

Senior Kim Rarick had a game-high 20 points and six assists on Tuesday evening.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Bethlehem, PA (November 25, 2008) – The #9 ranked DeSales University women's basketball team saw its unblemished record come to an end much earlier than it had wished falling to local rival Moravian College, 67-63, in the traditional non-conference game the Tuesday before Thanksgiving in Johnston Hall.

Call it what you will, playing for the first time in six days, playing for the first time on the road, or looking ahead to the Thanksgiving holiday. All those factors along with a terrific defensive effort from the Greyhounds saw the Bulldogs shoot just 33.3 percent from the field for the game including a 24.3 percent effort in the first half. MC's defense was a factor in those numbers, but the 57.1 percent clip at which DSU made free throws had nothing to do with Moravian's defense as the #1 ranked team in the country last season from the free throw line went just 16-for-28, leading to the four point loss.

This game is a battle for 40 minutes every single year and was once again this season. A tight game early saw Moravian (3-1 overall) take control when a 9-0 run by the hosts erased a one-point deficit and gave the Hounds a 17-9 lead. The Bulldogs (3-1 overall) spent the rest of the night playing catch up.

The lead grew to 10 points once in the opening half (26-16) and was cut as low as four points (28-24) before both teams settled for a 30-25 Moravian lead heading into the locker room. MC shot 37.1 percent (13-for-35) from the field as compared to the 24.3 percent shooting (9-for-37) for DSU.

The second half saw senior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) start things off with a lay-up cutting the margin down to three points, but Moravian used a 10-2 run over the next 4:50 to build a 40-29 advantage on a lay-up from Kirsty Stearns.

Once again DSU expended a ton of energy trying to play catch up on the scoreboard. The lead hovered between seven and 12 points (Moravian's largest at 48-36), before the Bulldogs started to make up some ground in their comeback attempt using an 8-0 run from the 6:14 mark to the 2:35 mark to get within one point.

A free throw from junior Kaila Wiand (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) started things and after a jumper from fellow junior Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) at the 5;15 mark, Rarick hit consecutive jumpers around one free throw to trim the margin down to one point, 58-57, with 2:35 to go.

A DeSales timeout following the Rarick jumper allowed Moravian time to re-group and they answered the run out of the timeout with four quick points over the next 47 seconds to take a 62-57 lead. Senior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) quickly cut the deficit down to three points and after a steal from junior Kelly Magrann (Sinking Spring, PA/Holy Name) another Burke running one-hander was off the mark.

With the shot clock winding down on the next Moravian possession and the Bulldogs down three Amanda Brown was fouled on a shot but she missed both free throws and DSU still had life. A jumper from Wiand touched nothing but net, but forced to foul Jessica Foran calmly sank two freebies and a Burke three-pointer hit front rim. Foran again sank two free throws with nine seconds left and after a Rarick jumper with three seconds left, Foran was again fouled and she made 1-of-2 charity tosses to provide the final margin.

Rarick finished with a game-high 20 points and added six assists in the loss. Burke scored just 11 points, struggling to find her shooting touch all night. Wiand finished with eight points and Miller totaled six points and a game-high 15 rebounds. Senior Erica Sovak (Tuxedo, NY/George F. Baker) played well off the bench with seven points and six rebounds, while freshman Megan Bedard (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) also played well with four points and six rebounds off the bench.

Foran finished with 18 points leading Moravian and Brown added 10 as the lone Greyhounds in double digits. Stearns finished with nine points and along with teammate Amy Heffner pulled down a team-high eight boards.

DeSales breaks for the Thanksgiving holiday and when they return to action it will be in Freedom Conference play when they travel to FDU-Florham for the first Freedom Conference game of the season on Wednesday, December 3^rd. The rematch of last year's Freedom Conference title game will tip at 6:00 pm.

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