Burke’s 32 Lead #18 Bulldogs past #6 Messiah, 70-64

Burke had 25 of 32 points in the second half on Saturday in the win over Messiah.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (December 13, 2008) – Senior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) exploded for 25 second-half points helping erase a 10-point halftime deficit and lead the 18^th ranked DeSales University women's basketball team past #6 Messiah College, 70-64, for the Bulldogs 20^th straight home win on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.

As mentioned this win is the 20^th straight for DeSales in Billera Hall breaking the previous mark of 19-straight victories set during the late 80's. DSU improves to 7-1 overall with the win, while Messiah falls to 5-2 overall, dropping their second straight game this week, the first of which came at the hands of the #1 ranked team in the nation, Kean University.

A sloppy first-half by the Bulldogs was one of the reasons for the large halftime deficit. DSU uncharacteristically committed 12 first-half turnovers and were never able to get into any kind of rhythm as the Falcons shot 43.3 percent and when senior Katie Kalb's runner at the halftime buzzer hit nothing but net, MC raced to the locker room with a 35-25 lead.

The beginning of the opening half was back-and-forth with Messiah continually holding a three-to-seven point advantage before a 7-0 run pushed the lead to 10 points for the first time at the 2:30 mark. A couple of jumpers cut the margin down to eight points before Kalb's running one-hander provided the halftime score.

The second half was all DeSales. Burke, a Pre-season D3hoops.com First-Team All-American, played just like one hitting a jumper from the top of the key on the very first possession and refused to be stopped the rest of the half.

Messiah still led by nine points, 42-33, at the 16:53 mark when the Bulldogs took control and never let go of the momentum. A lightning quick 9-0 run was started by Burke with a lay-up, before fellow senior and backcourt mate Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) hit two free throws to continue the spurt. Burke then nailed a three-pointer from the left wing, cutting the deficit down to two points and Rarick found Burke on the right baseline for a 12-foot jumper to tie the score at 42. The run only lasted 1:34 but it got a raucous crowd into the game and the momentum was now sitting at the end of the DeSales bench.

The Falcons briefly quieted the crowd with two quick buckets, but it was the Bulldogs day and trailing 46-42, DeSales used a 10-0 run over the next four minutes to take a six-point lead, 52-46, at the 10:05 mark. Burke and freshman Cherelle Simmons (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey) each hit two free throws to start the run before another Burke trey was followed by a Simmons jumper and one free throw from freshman Megan Bedard (Limerick, PA/Spring-Ford) to highlight the run.

Angie Rapchinski hit a three-pointer on the next Falcon possession making it a three-point game but that was the last time Messiah got within one possession of DeSales as an 8-2 run pushed the lead to nine points and grew as high as 11 before the final six-point margin was posted.

DSU took much better care of the ball in the second half committing just four turnovers, while the Falcons coughed up the rock 11 times in the second stanza. DSU shot 48.3 percent in the second half and held MC to just 35.5 percent shooting from the field in the final 20 minutes.

Burke finished with a game-high 32 points on an 11-for-22 shooting night, while Rarick added 13 points and four assists. Simmons came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points, grab five rebounds, and block two shots, while fellow sophomore Shaina Dymond (Shickshinny, PA/Northwest) had a strong game on the defensive end with seven rebounds and one blocked shot. Bedard also had a solid game off the pine with seven points

Messiah was led by senior Silalei Shani with 16 points and nine boards and Kalb who finished with 15 points and a game-high six assists.

DSU will now focus on two things over the next three weeks, Final Exams for the semester this week and the Christmas holidays next week, before returning to the court on Saturday, January 3^rd when they dive right back into Freedom Conference play with a road contest at Wilkes University beginning at 1:00 pm.

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