Center Valley, PA (January 5, 2015) – Sophomore Morgan McCollian totaled a career-high 31 points and recorded her fifth double-double of the season but Baruch College scored 11 points in the overtime period to defeat the DeSales University women's basketball team, 69-63, in Billera Hall on Monday evening.
 
McCollian was 10-for-14 from the field and added 14 rebounds, one shy of a career-high in the loss.  Sophomores Megan Baird and Nikki Callahan each added seven points for DeSales (8-5).
 
The Bearcats (7-4) got 14 points from both Francess Henry and Veronica Ganzi, while Iyana Abrams added 13 points and seven assists and Alicea Ulmer finished with nine points and a team-high 14 boards in the win.
 
DeSales shook of a slow start by both teams catching fire mid-way thru the first-half using a 23-9 run to take its largest lead of the game, 26-12, with 5:44 remaining in the half.  Baruch fought back and closed the gap in half as the Bulldogs led 28-21 at the break.  McCollian was a perfect 6-for-6 from the field in the opening half for 12 points.
 
Baruch scored the first 10 points of the second-half to take a 31-28 lead but DSU answered with a 13-5 run including six points from McCollian and a three from Baird to take a five point advantage (41-36) with 11:46 left to play.
 
The lead grew to as many as eight points (46-38) with 9:13 to go before the Bearcats slowly chipped away and eventually took a 52-51 lead with 4:11 left on a lay-up from Alicea.
 
The two teams exchanged leads over the next three minutes before a three-point play from McCollian gave DSU a 58-56 advantage with 1:46 remaining.  Baruch missed two shots on the other end and Baird was fouled in transition sending her to the line for a 1-and-1 with 1:11 left but she missed the front end and Baruch tied the game with 52 seconds left.
 
Both teams were off the mark on back-to-back possessions as the game was sent to overtime.
 
Kristen Podlovits hit a three from the left wing to open the half and after back-to-back turnovers from the Bulldogs BC took a five-point lead (65-60) with 3:41 to go.
 
It was a four-point game after a McCollian free throw with 48 seconds left and Baruch missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 30 seconds left but three straight misses from in tight by the Bulldogs gave the Bearcats the ball back and Abrams iced the win from the line with two freebies with eight ticks left to provide the final tally.
 
Baruch enjoyed a healthy advantage on the glass out-rebounding DSU, 53-42, leading to 14 second-chance points for the Bearcats.  DSU took advantage of 19 BC turnovers leading to 20 points.  DeSales shot 35.5 percent from the field but was just 1-for-7 in overtime, while Baruch shot 34.6 percent but canned 4-of-6 in the extra period.
 
The Bulldogs are now off for the next nine days before returning to action on Wednesday, January 14^th when they travel to King's College for a Freedom Conference game beginning at 6:00 pm.