BOX SCORE

Grantham, PA (December 12, 2009) – The DeSales University women's basketball team led throughout the first half, leading by as many as 10 points on three different occasions, and held a four-point advantage at the break but a 17-4 run over the first six minutes of the second half propelled #15 Messiah College past the Bulldogs, 60-52, in a non-conference game on Saturday evening at Brubaker Auditorium.

The Bulldogs (4-5 overall) shot just 28.3 percent from the field for the game and just 22.6 percent in the second half. Messiah (8-0 overall) shot just 25.0 percent in the first half but turned that around in the final 20 minutes, converting 47.8 percent of its shot attempts. The battle of the boards was a stalemate with each team grabbing 43, while Messiah had one more turnover (22) than the Bulldogs (21). Forty six fouls were called in the game, leading to 52 foul shots with Messiah canning 79.3 percent vs. 69.6 percent for DeSales.

DSU opened the game very strong, taking a 13-3 lead at the 12:11 mark on a lay-up from freshman Colleen Gavin (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) as she scored six of the Bulldogs first 13 points. Still leading by 10 (17-7) at the 8:09 mark, Messiah scored six straight points to cut the margin down to four points and the two teams traded basket-for-basket over the final eight minutes with DSU clinging to a four-point lead, 24-20, in a defensive minded first half.

The start of the second half was all Falcons as they exploded for 17 of the first 21 points turning a four-point deficit into a nine-point lead, 37-28. The lead continued to be nine at the 10:52 mark when senior Kelly Magrann (Sinking Spring, PA/Holy Name) entered the game and promptly scored six straight points pulling the Bulldogs within three, 41-38, with 9:33 left to play.

A lay-up from Gavin at 6:54 made it a four-point game before Messiah scored six straight points to lead by 10, 51-41, and DeSales never got any closer than six points late in the game before the final eight-point margin was posted.

Gavin finished with her first career double-double and a season-high 14 points and 12 rebounds in the loss. Senior Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) added 10 points and pulled down six boards and Magrann provided some instant offense with nine points in just 12 minutes of action off the bench.

Dori Gyori tallied her own double-double with 14 points and 19 rebounds to lead Messiah. Julie Henninger added 19 points on a 13-for-15 effort from the charity stripe and Kira Maier had 10 points off the bench.

The Bulldogs will now break for finals this week and the Christmas holidays next week and won't return to game action until Sunday, January 3rd when they travel to Baruch College for a non-conference game beginning at 3:00 pm.