Center Valley, PA (January 13, 2016) – The DeSales University women's basketball team shot 59.3 percent from the field in the second-half pulling away from King's College for a 76-65 win in MAC Freedom action on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall.
 
Juniors Morgan McCollian and Megan Baird combined for 35 points as McCollian recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 12 rebounds and Baird tossed in a season-high 17 points on 4-of-6 shooting from outside the arc in the win.
 
Freshman Morgan Birmelin also played well totaling eight points, six rebounds, and seven assists and junior Nicole Umbenhauer led the charge off the bench with nine points.  Junior Nikki Callahan finished with a game-high five steals and freshman Katie Miller totaled six assists and four steals for the Bulldogs (10-4, 3-0 MAC Freedom).
 
King's (8-5, 2-1 MAC Freedom) got 14 points off the bench from Tara Zdancewicz, 11 points from Jennifer Fabian, and 10 points from Kayla Feairheller to round out the double digit scoring.
 
For as good a shooting performance DSU had in the second-half, the first-half was the opposite as the Bulldogs converted just 29.3 percent of their shot attempts but clung to a one-point lead at the break thanks to a strong second quarter that turned a seven-point deficit early in the quarter into a one-point halftime edge.
 
King's scored the first basket of the second quarter but the Bulldogs came to life with a 9-0 run over the next three minutes to take a 19-17 lead thanks in part by five points from sophomore Angelica Bertola.
 
The Lady Monarchs opened the second-half strong reclaiming the lead with an 8-3 run to start the third quarter and continued to lead by three (46-43) with 4:30 left in the third before DSU scored six straight points on a Baird three and three points from Umbenhauer to take a 49-46 lead.
 
The lead remained three into the fourth quarter where the Bulldogs never trailed answering every King's mini run and put the game away late hitting 8-of-10 freebies over the final three minutes.
 
The Bulldogs finished the game shooting 41.2 percent from the field and forced 26 King's turnovers leading to 29 points.  DSU also dominated the paint, out-scoring KC, 38-18.  The Lady Monarchs stayed in the game hitting 10 three-pointers.
 
Baird earns A.B.E. Doors and Windows Player of the Game honors breaking out of a shooting slump with a season-high 17 points off the pine.
 
The Bulldogs are back in action on Saturday when they travel to FDU-Florham for another important MAC Freedom game beginning at 1:00 pm.