Dallas, PA (February 4, 2015) – The DeSales University women's basketball team let an 11-point second-half lead slip away, shooting just 30.8 percent in the second-half, falling to Misericordia University, 71-63, in Freedom Conference action on Wednesday evening at the Anderson Center.
 
Senior Mikelyn Mackavage led the Bulldogs (11-9, 5-4 Freedom) in scoring with 14 points, all of which came in the first-half, sophomore Megan Baird added 13 points, and freshman Colleen Durkee finished with 10 points, also all in the first-half.
 
Justine Seely registered a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars (1-19, 1-8 Freedom).  Lauren Smicherko added 13 points and Jaclyn Hajec finished with 12 points in the win.
 
DSU shot very well in the first-half, connecting on 48.4 percent for the half, and led by as many as 10 points on three different occasions before settling for a five-point lead (40-35) at the break.  MU was also hot from the field hitting 53.6 percent from the field.
 
The Bulldogs continued to shoot well to open the second-half and after a three from Baird and three straight points from Callahan, DSU enjoyed its largest lead of the game (48-37) with 13:33 left to play.
 
DeSales then went cold from the field missing its next six shots and connecting on just 3-for-7 from the charity stripe as the Cougars chipped away and tied the game at 50 with 9:06 to go.
 
A jumper from Suk, a three-point play from Baird, and another short jumper from Suk gave DSU a 57-54 lead with 5:43 remaining but Misericordia went on an 8-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 62-57 lead with 2:42 to go.
 
DSU drew a foul on the next possession but junior Jen Napolitano missed the front end of a one-and-one and after a steal, Baird was sent to the line and was only able to hit 1-of-2 making it a four-point game with 2:30 left.
 
One free throw from the Cougars made it a five-point game before a lay-up from Baird cut the deficit down to three points with 1:49 to go.
 
The Bulldogs got a stop on the defensive end but a three-pointer from Durkee was off the mark and Hajec hit a short jumper in the lane on the next possession and MU iced the win from the line hitting 6-for-8 from the line down the stretch to provide the final tally.
 
DeSales finished the game shooting 40.4 percent from the field but hit just 10-for-21 (47.6%) from the free throw line.  MU hit 48.0 percent from the field and dominated the glass, 41-30, for the game.
 
DeSales is back in action on Saturday when they travel to Delaware Valley College for another important Freedom Conference game beginning at 1:00 pm.