Madison, NJ (February 25, 2017) – The DeSales University women's basketball team fell to FDU-Florham, 68-62, in the MAC Freedom Championship game and will now play the waiting game to see if they get a Pool C bid into the NCAA Tournament on Monday afternoon.
 
The NCAA Division III field will be announced on Monday afternoon around 2:30 pm with the Bulldogs (20-7) ranked #3 in the latest NCAA Atlantic Region Regional Rankings.
 
Senior Morgan McCollian led DeSales on Saturday recording her fifth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds as the lone double digit scorer.  Sophomore Morgan Birmelin, senior Megan Baird, and sophomore Katie Miller all had eight points in the loss.  Senior Nicole Umbenhauer also played well with seven points and eight boards.
 
The Devils (24-3) got 21 points from freshman Kendrea Williams and 18 points each from seniors Alyssa McDonough and Rachel Groom. 
 
The Bulldogs struggled to shoot in the opening quarter but took advantage of some missed free throws from FDU to trail by only four (13-9) at the end of 10 minutes of play.  Senior Nikki Callahan opened the second quarter with a three and DSU dominated the quarter out-scoring FDU, 20-9, to take a 29-22 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
Back-to-back scores to start the third quarter after a Groom lay-up gave DSU its largest lead (9) at 33-24, before FDU caught fire ending the quarter on a 22-10 spurt to take a 46-43 lead entering the final stanza.
 
DSU started the last quarter quickly as both junior Kaitlin Kelly and Baird hit 3's to put DSU up 49-48.  DeSales trailed by just two (53-51) with 7:06 to play when both teams went scoreless for three minutes until FDU's Kayle Croswell scored on a driving lay-up to make it a 55-51 game.
 
Baird was off on a three-pointer on DSU's next possession and the Devils scored the next five points to take a 61-51 lead with 2:18 to go.
 
The Bulldogs were forced to foul and eventually pulled to within five (66-61) after a three from Miller but a turnover down six with 12 seconds left spoiled any last second comeback chances.
 
DSU struggled from the free throw line missing 17 freebies shooting just 9-for-26.  DeSales won the battle of the boards, 44-41, and forced 18 turnovers but were unable to overcome the missed free throws in the loss.