Box Score
Brownwood, TX (March 14, 2008) – A season that will be remembered for quite some time by anyone associated with the 19th ranked DeSales University women's basketball team came to an end on Friday evening with a 69-42 loss to #2 ranked Howard Payne University in the Brownwood Coliseum in the “Sweet 16” of the NCAA Tournament.
The Bulldogs 15-game winning streak comes to an end as they finish the season with a 26-4 overall record, one win shy of the school-record for victories in a season. The Yellow Jackets improve to 30-0 overall on the season and advance to the Elite Eight where they will meet #1 ranked Hope College, who defeated George Fox University, 47-40, in the first game on Friday night.
The first half was a defensive battle as each team played terrific defense. With the scored tied at 10 at the 7:04 mark HPU finished the half on a 13-3 run to open up a 23-13 lead entering the locker rooms. The Bulldogs shot just 20.8 percent from the field as junior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) totaled a team-high six points. The Yellow Jackets also struggled from the field, shooting just 32.1 percent from the field. Senior Meia Daniels totaled nine points to lead Howard Payne.
DeSales started strong in the second half, cutting the lead to nine points on two different occasions on three-pointers from Burke, the last coming at the 17:20 mark of the second half but HPU took control from that point going on a 22-3 run over the next 7:44 to put the game out of reach.
Burke finished as the lone double digit scorer for the Bulldogs with 14 points and added four steals. Fellow junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) added nine points in the loss.
Daniels finished with 21 points and three steals, while fellow senior Stacey Blalock totaled a game-high 23 points.
