BOX SCORE

Center Valley, PA (December 8, 2009) – The DeSales University women's basketball team hung tight with the seventh ranked team in the country, Kean University, for the first 27 minutes of the game before a 10-0 Cougar run gave KU a 13-point second-half lead and eventually a 71-59 win in a non-conference game on Tuesday evening in Billera Hall.

The loss is the fourth straight for the Bulldogs as they fall to 3-4 overall, while Kean improves to 6-1 overall on the season. DeSales shot 38.3 percent, second highest shooting percentage of the year, and forced the Cougars into 23 turnovers, but KU canned 49.1 percent of its shots, 57.7 percent in the second half, and forced DSU into 23 turnovers as well for the game.

The Bulldogs started strong opening up an 11-8 lead after a jumper from junior Lori Lidlow (Toms Rivers, NJ/Toms River North) at the 12:41 mark before Kean went on a 13-0 run highlighted by three triples, two by senior Melissa Beyruti to give the Cougars a 21-11 lead.

After a DSU timeout, the Bulldogs answered the challenge with a 12-0 run of their own over the next four minutes to take a 23-21 advantage at the 5:38 mark. Junior Megan Montchyk (Bellmawr, NJ/Paul VI) keyed the run with five points, including a three-pointer. From that point the game went back-and-forth as DSU clung to a 30-28 lead before consecutive turnovers led to five straight points on fast break lay-ups and the Cougars holding a 33-32 lead as both teams headed for the locker room.

The start of the second half saw both teams struggle from the floor with just eight points, four each, scored over the first four minutes. A jumper from freshman Colleen Gavin (Quakertown, PA/Quakertown) at the 12:49 mark cut a five-point deficit down to three (46-43), but from that point forward it was all Kean.

The Cougars started its game-clinching 10-0 run with two free throws and in a matter of just 1:03 had extended a three-point lead up to 13 points in what seemed like no time at all. The lead was as high as 16 points on two different occasions and DeSales got no closer than nine points the rest of the way in the loss.

Gavin had a terrific game off the bench for the Bulldogs as she scored a season-high 16 points and grabbed five rebounds on a very efficient 7-for-10 shooting night. Lidlow added 20 points, on 6-of-20 from the field, and dished out four assists and senior Caitlin Miller (Fogelsville, PA/Northwestern Lehigh) had nine points. Sophomores Hannah Smith (New Cumberland, PA/Cedar Cliff) and Cherelle Simmons (Lancaster, PA/JP McCaskey) also contributed with four assists and eight rebounds.

Junior Angelica Bermudez, who came into the game averaging just over four points per game, was the storyline for the Cougars with a game-high tying 20 points on 9-of-11 shooting off the bench. She added eight rebounds and three assists in the win. Junior Tiffany Patrick recorded a double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds and freshman Naimah Clemons had 13 points. Senior All-American Melissa Beyruti was held in check with just six points on 2-of-8 shooting.

The Bulldogs will look to break this losing skid on Thursday, December 10th when they travel to Gwynedd-Mercy College in another non-conference game beginning at 7:00 pm.