Allentown, PA (December 13, 2014) – Sophomore Megan Baird scored a career-high 22 points leading the DeSales University women's basketball team past local rival Muhlenberg College, 64-51, in non-conference action on Saturday afternoon in Memorial Hall.
 
Baird finished the game shooting 7-of-9 from the field and hit all three of her three-point attempts.  Sophomore Morgan McCollian added 12 points, eight rebounds, and three blocks to lead DeSales (6-3 overall).
 
Leanna Tallamy led the Mules (3-5 overall) with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Christina Santone added a double-double as well with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
 
DeSales torched the nets in the opening-half shooting 50.0 percent (13-for-26) from the field and 4-for-5 from outside the arc taking a 39-28 lead into the halftime locker room.  DSU pulled away mid-way thru the half using a 15-4 run led by two three's from Baird to take a 28-14 lead.
 
Both Baird and McCollian had double digits (10 points each) in the opening 20 minutes.
 
The Bulldogs remained hot from the field to start the second-half and after a three from sophomore Nikki Callahan at the 11:45 mark DSU had its largest lead of the game (17 points), 57-40.
 
DeSales then went cold from the field as the Mules held DSU scoreless over the next 7:48 of the game but managed to cut the margin down to just seven points as the Bulldogs defense was just as stingy holding MC without a field goal and to just four foul shots over the final 8:41 of the game.
 
Baird ended the drought with two free throws with 3:57 left and a jumper from freshman Emily Kiersnowski followed by a transition lay-up from Baird at the 1:47 mark pushed the lead back up to 12 points icing the win for DeSales.
 
DSU finished the game shooting 44.0 percent from the field as compared to just 25.7 percent shooting for the Mules.  Muhlenberg enjoyed a healthy advantage on the glass, out-rebounding DeSales, 53-38, but the Mules struggled from the free throw line hitting just 13-of-29 (44.8 percent) for the game.  The Bulldogs hit 6-of-11 from downtown in the win.
 
The Bulldogs break for the Christmas holidays and will return to action on December 30^th when they take on the College of Staten Island in the opening round of the Springfield College (MA) Naismith Classic Tournament at 3:00 pm.