#18 Bulldogs Rebound with Win over Manhattanville

Freshman Cherelle Simmons had her first double figure rebounding game of her career on Monday.

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (January 12, 2009) – Coming off its first Freedom Conference loss since the very first game of last year the DeSales University women's basketball team rebounded with a hard-fought 76-72 win over Manhattanville College on Monday evening in Billera Hall.

Playing their fourth game in the last nine days the 18^th ranked Bulldogs gutted out their 10^th win of the season by shooting 40.3 percent from the field and canning some important free throws down the stretch. DSU is now 10-2 overall and 5-1 to start the Freedom Conference season, while the Valiants fall to 5-8 overall and 3-3 in the Freedom Conference.

Despite the tight final score, DeSales led the entire game except for one tie late in the second half. The Bulldogs, however, could never shake MVille as their largest lead of the game was eight points on several different occasions. Holding a 32-24 advantage with just over four minutes to go in the first half, the Valiants went on an 8-1 run to pull within one before sophomore Megan Montchyk (Bellmawr, NJ/Paul VI) hit a three-pointer with 1:18 left to give the hosts a 36-32 halftime lead.

The second half was much of the same as DSU would build a six/eight point lead several times but every time they seemed to be ready to pull away, Manhattanville chipped away at the lead as the Valiants finally tied the game at 67 with 3:12 to play using a 6-0 run that was highlighted by a three-point play from Carey Hickey to forge the tie.

MVille had a chance to take the lead on its next possession but a missed jumper was grabbed by junior Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) as she was fouled with 2:30 on the clock. She canned both freebies and after another miss from the Valiants, Miller was again fouled down on the low block on a lay-up attempt and once again hit both charity tosses giving the Bulldogs a four-point lead with 1:50 remaining.

Kelli Hyjek converted a lay-up but senior Kim Rarick (Ringtown, PA/North Schuylkill) answered this time with a pull-up 15-footer from the left elbow pushing the lead back to four and after another miss from Manhattanville, senior LeighAnn Burke (Philadelphia, PA/Archbishop Ryan) hit a floater in the lane to give DSU a 75-69 lead with 28 seconds left.

Manhattanville just would not go away however as a three from Olivia Nastasi made it a one-possession game but freshman Cherelle Simmons (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey) hit 1-of-2 free throws with 18 seconds and a missed three on the other end saw the rebound bounce around as time ran out on the Valiants.

Rarick finished with a team-high 17 points on a 7-for-12 shooting night, while Burke totaled 12 points and had six steals. Miller recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while Simmons tallied eight points and pulled down a season-high 10 rebounds. Junior Kaila Wiand (Royersford, PA/Spring-Ford), freshman Hannah Smith (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff), and junior Kelly Magrann (Sinking Spring, PA/Holy Name) each made a significant contribution with seven points each.

Jess Delagrange totaled 21 points, Hickey had 10 points and five assists, and Nastasi finished with 10 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists in the loss.

The Bulldogs return to action just two days from now as they take to the road where they will face Delaware Valley College in a Freedom Conference game beginning at 6:00 pm.

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