Box Score BOX SCORE
Allentown, Pa. (March 7, 2008) – It's always a battle when two Lehigh Valley rivals meet and Friday evening was no exception as the DeSales University women's basketball team won its 14th straight game defeating Muhlenberg College, 56-48, in the opening round of the 2008 NCAA Division III Tournament in a game that will be remembered for quite some time if you were in attendance.
The Bulldogs (25-3 overall) survived the battle and now advance to the second round where they will meet Salem State College (22-6 overall) on Saturday evening beginning at 7:00 pm with the winner moving onto the Sweet 16 next weekend at a site to be announced on Sunday afternoon by the NCAA committee. Salem State defeated Marymount University, 73-63, in the first game of the evening in Memorial Hall.
Just like the first meeting between these two teams earlier in the year, this game came right down to the wire. A defensive first-half saw the host Mules jump out to an 8-2 lead before the Bulldogs settled in with an 11-1 run to build a 13-9 advantage. Muhlenberg rallied to tie the game at 17 before DSU scored five of the last seven points of the half to take a slim 22-19 lead into the locker rooms.
Neither team shot particularly well in the opening half due to some stingy defense by both teams. The Bulldogs converted just 30.0 percent (9-for-30), while MC was 8-for-24 from the field (33.3 %) and were guilty of 11 turnovers over the first twenty minutes.
The second half started back-and-forth with DeSales taking control opening up a six-point lead on two different occasions with the last coming at the 15:44 mark (30-24) on two free throws by sophomore Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh). A three by junior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) gave DSU a five-point cushion just 1:12 later before the Mules went on a 9-0 run to take a 37-33 lead at the 10:57 mark.. All nine of Muhlenberg's points during the spurt came from the free throw line.
A jumper from junior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) halted the scoring drought and cut the deficit to two points but a jumper from junior Lauren Boyle quickly extended the hosts lead back to four with 8:44 to go. Senior Amanda Kuperavage (Port Carbon, PA/Nativity BVM) connected on a jumper in the lane which ignited six straight points, four from Kuperavage, from the Bulldogs making the score 41-39 lead with 7:22 left.
Rarick and Boyle then went to work over the next two minutes as Boyle hit an off-balance jumper from the sideline to tie the score, but Rarick followed with back-to-back clutch jumpers to push the lead up to four points (45-41) with 5:39 on the scoreboard. After Muhlenberg connected on one free throw, senior Jenna Stampf (Nazareth, PA/Notre Dame) hit her only bucket of the game, but perhaps the biggest of career, as her running one-hander with the shot clock winding down hit the backboard and fell thru the hoop giving DSU a five-point lead (47-42) with 4:50 to go.
Muhlenberg refused to go quietly though and three straight jumpers from senior Abra Like, Sheila Cook and Boyle were sandwiched in between one Rarick free throw to tie the game at 48 with just 2:05 to play setting up the frantic final two minutes.
Kuperavage missed on a short jumper on DSU's next possession but Miller was there to grab the offensive rebound and was fouled on the put-back attempt sending her to the line where she hit nothing but net on both freebies to make it a 50-48 game in favor of DeSales. Boyle's jumper on the other end was blocked by Rarick and rebounded by Kuperavage and Rarick hit one of the most dramatic three-pointers in DeSales history at the other end when her trey from the left baseline caromed off the rim at least four times, bounced off the backboard, hung on the front of the rim and dropped thru giving DSU a 53-48 lead with 1:01 left.
After each team missed a couple of free throws, Miller was fouled with 26 seconds left and again hit nothing but net on two charity tosses to push the lead to seven points and Kuperavage connected on one freebie with seven ticks left to set the final score.
Rarick finished with a career-high 24 points on 9-of-15 shooting including a 3-for-3 effort from three-point land. Miller collected her 10th double-double of the season with 12 points and 14 rebounds and Kuperavage finished with nine points and six rebounds. Burke finished with just four points but contributed on the offensive end with a game-high six assists and on the defensive end with a game-high three steals.
Boyle led the Mule scoring attack with 18 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Bates added nine points and seven rebounds and McSherry grabbed a team-high 11 boards and blocked four shots. Like also played well off the bench with six points.
Game time is set for 7:00 pm at Memorial Hall tomorrow evening. If you are unable to attend you can access the DeSales University women's basketball schedule for links to the LIVE stats and Audio links here – CLICK HERE.
