Center Valley, PA (December 29, 2016) - The DeSales University women's basketball team out-scored the College of New Jersey in every quarter en route to its sixth straight win, 75-56, in the opening round of the Juniata College Tournament on Thursday afternoon.

Senior Morgan McCollian finished with a game-high 21 points and pulled down eight boards in the win, while senior Megan Baird added 14 points and junior Kaitlin Kelly added 11 points off the bench.  Sophomore Bridget Walsh also played well with eight points and sophomore Morgan Birmelin finished with seven points and five assists for the Bulldogs (8-1).

TCNJ (4-6) saw four players reach double figures including Kate O'Leary with 14 points, Chiara Palombi with 12 points, Charlotte Schum with 11 points, and Nikki Schott with 10 points.

A tie game early at nine saw DSU score six straight points to take a 15-9 lead before a three from O'Leary made it a 15-12 game at the end of one quarter.

DeSales then took control in the second quarter opening up a 13-point lead scoring 12 of the first 14 points of the quarter including eight straight points from Baird.  The lead peaked at 16 in the quarter before the Bulldogs took a 35-25 lead into the locker room.

The Lions never got any closer than 10 points the rest of way scoring the first basket of the fourth quarter to pull within 10 points but DSU countered five straight points to reclaim a 15-point advantage and never looked back from there.

DeSales committed just nine turnovers in the game, while forcing 20 Lion miscues leading to 29 Bulldog points.  DSU shot 44.8 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Lions by two (34-32) for the game.

The Bulldogs take on tournament host Juniata tomorrow with tip set for 2:00 pm.