Center Valley, PA (February 14, 2017) - Misericordia University scored the first eight points of overtime defeating the DeSales University women's basketball team, 59-52, to split the season series with the Bulldogs in MAC Freedom action on Tuesday evening in Billera Hall.

The win drops DeSales (18-6, 10-3 MAC Freedom) into third place in the MAC Freedom standings and means DSU will be on the road in the MAC Freedom postseason's semifinal round traveling to Misericordia University (18-6, 11-2 MAC Freedom) for the rematch.  FDU-Florham clinched the top seed with a win on Tuesday and Eastern University has clinched the #4 seed as all the seeds and matchups have been set with Tuesday's results.

Senior Morgan McCollian was DSU's top scorer finishing with 12 points, while sophomores Bridget Walsh and Leandra Sterner each added 10 points.  McCollian also pulled down nine rebounds and Walsh had eight.  Sophomore Morgan Birmelin played well totaling eight points, six assists, and four steals and senior Nikki Callahan also had four steals.

The Cougars got a game-high 17 points from Japriya Carroll, 16 points and nine rebounds from Rachel Carmody, and 12 points, 25 rebounds, and six blocks from Justine Seely in the win.

Just like the first meeting this game was a defensive battle the entire way. Neither team led by more than a bucket in the first quarter as the score was tied at nine after 10 minutes of play and the Bulldogs used a 4-0 run to end the first-half to take a 21-20 lead into the locker room at the half.

DSU out-scored MU, 5-1, over the first 5:16 in the third quarter to take its largest lead (26-21) but the Cougars quickly tied the game with five straight points and led by one (29-28) after three quarters of play.

Misericordia took a four-point lead (36-32) at the 5:04 mark of the fourth quarter before five points in seven seconds from Sterner pushed the Bulldogs up one (37-36) with 4:20 remaining.

The game remained tied at 41 with 2:24 to go when Walsh hit a short jumper at the 2:02 mark but after a Cougar miss and a Bulldog turnover, MU got the tying bucket on a driving lay-up from Carroll.  DSU called timeout and out of the timeout Birmelin drove the lane but her shot was hard off the backboard and didn't connect with the rim.  Freshman Molly Jancso ran down the rebound but DSU was called for a shot clock violation not realizing the clock hadn't reset.

After a Cougar timeout, Misericordia turned the ball over and DSU again called timeout, this time with 12.9 seconds left, and with a chance to win the game.  Out of the timeout, Sterner drove into the middle of a zone and tossed up a shot while falling to the ground that hit nothing as time expired in regulation.

In the OT period, two Cougar free throws were followed by three consecutive buckets from Misericordia as they took a commanding 51-43 lead in this defensive battle and the Bulldogs were unable to recover getting no closer than five points the rest of the way.

DeSales attempted 30 more shots (86-56) than Misericordia but converted just 24.4 percent from the field.  DSU forced 29 Cougar turnovers, scoring 20 points off those turnovers, but were out-rebounded, 63-43, for the game.  MU shot 35.7 percent from the field.

Walsh earns A.B.E. Doors and Windows Player of the Game honors shooting 5-for-8 from the field with 10 points.

The Bulldogs will wrap up the regular season on Saturday when they host Delaware Valley University in a MAC Freedom contest before the post-season begins next Wednesday.  Game time for Saturday is 1:00 pm.