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Allentown, PA (December 5, 2011) – The DeSales University women's basketball team hung tough, playing one of its best games of the season but fell short in the end, dropping a 66-60 decision to #13 Muhlenberg College in a non-conference game on Monday evening in Memorial Hall.

The Bulldogs (3-3) were led by senior Cherelle Simmons who notched her 16th career double-double and the first of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds and sophomore Sondrine Glovas with 15 points.  Sophomore Faith Gilbert totaled nine points and sophomore Alexiah Grant had a terrific game with a career-high eight points to lead the charge off the bench.

Alita Zabrecky had a team-high 16 points and pulled down eight rebounds and Leeann Lanza finished with a double-double line of 14 points and 12 rebounds.  For the second straight year, All-American Alexandra Chili was held in check by the Bulldogs, shooting just 3-for-12 from the field, scoring just seven points.  Last year Chili was just 2-for-17 from the field with six turnovers.  Erin Laney gave the Mules (7-0) a boost off the bench with nine points and seven boards.

A tight first half saw three ties and six lead changes as DeSales took control early, opening up leads of 11-5 and 17-9 before Muhlenberg rallied to take a 20-19 lead with 7:05 left to play.  It was a tie game at 25 with 2:41 left when the Mules used a 7-2 half-ending run to secure five-point halftime lead.

The second half saw DeSales quickly erase the deficit using a 7-0 run after Muhlenberg scored the first bucket of the half to tie the game at 34, thanks in part to five points from Glovas during the spurt.  The Mules answered with six straight points as DeSales chipped away getting within two on several occasions over the next few minutes.

Still a two-point game (44-42, with 14:08 left, Muhlenberg used an 8-1 run to take its largest lead to that point, 52-43, with 11:49 left.  DSU continued to chip away but could not put a dent in the deficit as MC continued to hold a nine-point edge with 5:59 left on the clock.

The Bulldogs went cold from there missing its next six shots, despite shooting very well in the second-half (48.1 percent), and Muhlenberg used the drought to open up a 65-50 lead with 1:39 to go.  DeSales did not quit, ending the game on a 10-1 run to pull within six but ran out of time as the Mules cashed in on six-point home win.

A tie game on the glass in the first-half (23 each) was one-sided in the second-half as Muhlenberg out-rebounded DeSales, 28-12, in the second-half and scored 11 second-chance points over the final 20 minutes.  DSU did do a terrific job taking care of the ball, committing just 18 turnovers as compared to 30+ in each of its last two games.

The Bulldogs will look to rebound on Wednesday night when they return home to host another national recognized team, Kean University, who was receiving votes in last week's top 25 poll with tip set for 7:00 pm.