Box Score BOX SCORE
Center Valley, Pa. (February 27, 2008) – There never would have been a Batman without a Robin and tonight DeSales' Batman, junior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan), had some extra help from the Bulldogs' Robin, junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill), as the backcourt dynamic duo combined for 41 points to lead the DeSales University women's basketball team past Delaware Valley College, 78-72, and into the Freedom Conference championship game.
The win is the 11th straight for the Bulldogs (23-3 overall) who advance to its seventh Freedom Conference championship game and will be looking for its third conference title overall and the first since the 1999-00 season on Saturday. DeSales will face third seeded, FDU-Florham, who upset the #2 seed King's College, 56-47, in the other semifinal on Wednesday. The Devils are the lone team to defeat DSU in the Freedom Conference regular season. Game time is set for 1:00 pm in Billera Hall.
Having played its first game in the last eight days on Wednesday evening, DeSales started the game ice cold from the field, connecting on just 1-for-15 to start the game. The Aggies (13-13 overall) took advantage of the poor shooting and opened up a 9-3 lead at the 15:00 mark before Rarick caught fire to start a DSU comeback. A three-pointer from the top of the key from Rarick cut the lead to six and three free throws also by Rarick 2 ½ minutes later cut the deficit down to two points, 13-11, at the 10:21 mark.
The two teams went back-and-forth over the next several minutes and with the game tied at 25 at the 3:53 mark, DeSales ended the half on a 15-7 run to take an eight-point halftime lead. Sophomore Kaila Wiand (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford) started the run with a three-pointer and Burke scored eight of her 10 first-half points during the spurt to lead the way.
DeSales kept control of the game early in the second half opening up a 14-point lead, 56-42, at the 12:05 mark on a three-pointer from freshman Megan Montchyk (Bellmawr, NJ/Paul VI), but the Aggies started chipping away at the lead from that point. A quick 7-0 run cut the margin down to seven at the 11:01 mark but Rarick answered once again with a jumper to push the lead back to nine points.
The rest of the game was back-and-forth as DVC got within four points on two occasions, 59-55 at the 6:56 mark, and 76-72 with 26 seconds left on a long three from senior Moira Donohue but each time DeSales answered with free throws on the other end including two big ones from senior Jenna Stampf (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame) with 21 seconds left to ice the game and provide the final score.
Robin finished the game out-scoring Batman as Rarick totaled a game-high 22 points and added five assists, while Burke finished with 19 points, three assists and four steals. Sophomore Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) played very well totaling seven points and a team-high 13 rebounds and Wiand finished just one point shy of her first double-double with nine points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
Stampf led the charge off the bench with 11 points and two steals, while fellow senior Amanda Kuperavage (Port Carbon, PA/Nativity BVM) was terrific with six points and an important eight rebounds.
The Aggies had four players reach double digits including senior Brooke Dittmar who ended her career with a monster game that included 18 points and 22 rebounds. Sophomore Kim Vennera added 18 points and seven rebounds, Donohue finished with 15 points, four assists and five steals and freshman Brittany Battinieri added 15 points in the loss.
