Bethlehem, PA (November 22, 2016) – Senior Morgan McCollian and sophomore Morgan Birmelin combined for 41 points leading the DeSales University women's basketball team past local rival Moravian College, 78-74, in non-conference action on Tuesday evening in Johnston Hall.
 
McCollian finished with a team-high 25 points and added six blocks, while Birmelin posted a season-high 16 points off the bench to lead the way.  Sophomore Leandra Sterner added 10 points, while senior Megan Baird and junior Kaitlin Kelly each had nine points.  Senior Nikki Callahan had seven assists and five steals in the win.
 
Moravian (3-1) got a game-high 27 points from Camille McPherson, 14 points from Maddie Capuano, and 10 points off the bench from Ciara Stewart in the loss.
 
The Bulldogs (3-1) never trailed in the game and after leading by two points at the end of the first quarter dominated the second quarter out-scoring the Greyhounds 19-4 to take a commanding 40-23 lead into the break.
 
DSU continued to lead by 17 just over four minutes into the third quarter when Moravian began chipping away at the lead and ended the quarter on a 6-0 run thanks to two desperation three's from McPherson as the shot clock buzzer sounded each time.
 
Despite the Moravian run DSU never trailed and held off every Greyhound run in the fourth quarter.  MC got within two points four times but were never able to take the lead.
 
DeSales led by three with 1:58 left and McCollian calmly knocked down free throws increasing the lead to five points before Ciara Stewart answered right away with a lay-up on the other end making it 74-71 with 1:20 to go.
 
After back-to-back turnovers each team exchanged misses before Birmelin was fouled with three seconds left and knocked both charity tosses.  After a timeout, McPherson hit a quick three cutting the margin back to two points with 1.4 second left but Birmelin was fouled on the inbounds and knocked both freebies icing the win for the Bulldogs.
 
It is DSU's first win over Moravian since the 2007 season snapping an eight-game win streak for the Greyhounds.  DeSales now leads the all-time series 23-19.  The Bulldogs shot a season-high 44.8 percent from the field in the win.
 
The Bulldogs are now off for the Thanksgiving holidays and will return to action on Wednesday, November 30^th when they host Arcadia University beginning at 6:00 pm.