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Dallas, PA (January 18, 2012) – The DeSales University women's basketball team spoiled a solid first-half by shooting just 20.0 percent in the second-half and wasting a seven-point halftime lead, falling at Misericordia University, 56-49, in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday evening.

DeSales (8-8, 3-2 Freedom) took 25 more shots than Misericordia (7-7, 4-1 Freedom) but was only able to put 49 points on the scoreboard in the loss.  The Bulldogs shot 40.0 percent (12-for-30) in the first-half in building a lead as large as 14 points, but went almost six minutes without a point mid-way thru the second-half as the Cougars built an 11-point lead.

Sophomore Alexiah Grant and junior Colleen Gavin each had 15 points to lead DeSales and senior Cherelle Simmons added seven points.  Sophomore Sondrine Glovas was held to just five points on 2-of-10 shooting after entering the game averaging 16.4 per game.

Senior Christine Marks led both teams with 25 points and added 10 rebounds and Jesse Robinson totaled 10 points and seven boards.  Hannah Seely finished with seven points and 10 boards in the win.

The Bulldogs played well in the first half, opening up a 22-8 lead over the first 10 minutes.  Misericordia chipped away cutting the margin down to six points once before the Bulldogs settled for a seven-point edge at the break.  Gavin had a terrific first-half, scoring 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting.

The lead was six early in the second-half when the Cougars used a 9-0 run to take a 34-31 lead.  After two free throws from freshman Alex Suk making it a one-point game (36-35), MU out-scored DeSales 9-0 over the next six minutes to build a 10-point advantage (45-35) with 8:23 remaining.

The deficit was 11 points at the 4:21 mark when the Bulldogs made one last run.  Two free throws from Simmons, a three-point play from Grant, and a three from Glovas cut the lead down to four points (50-46) with 2:49 to go.  Trailing by four with 37 seconds left, senior Hannah Smith found Simmons for a wide-open lay-up, but her shot rimmed out and two Marks free throws on the other end sealed the win for Misericordia.

DSU did an excellent job taking care of the ball, committing just 12 turnovers and forced 27 Cougar miscues on the other end.  MU enjoyed a 39-26 advantage on the boards and shot an impressive 48.6 percent from the field for the game.

The Bulldogs return to action with another important Freedom Conference game on Saturday afternoon when they host Eastern University with a special start time of 2:00 pm in Billera Hall.