Center Valley, PA (February 10, 2018) - Junior Leandra Sterner (Northampton, PA) dropped a game-high 25 points and the DeSales University women's basketball team finished the game on a 10-4 run over the final 3:47 to claim a very important MAC Freedom win, 61-56, over King's College on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.

The Bulldogs stay in a three-way tie for third place with Manhattanville College and Misericordia University heading into the final week of the regular season.  DSU travels to Misericordia and Delaware Valley this week for two very important road games.

In a game that featured eight ties and 14 lead changes, DeSales (13-10, 8-4 MAC Freedom) trailed by one (52-51) with 4:13 to go.  Sterner hit back-to-back lay-ups giving the Bulldogs a 55-52 advantage with 3:35 left and knocked down two free throws with 2:38 remaining making it a five-point game.

King's hit one freebie on the next possession before both teams came up empty comibining for seven straight missed shots as DeSales controlled possession following a King's (14-9, 9-3 MAC Freedom) miss with 42 seconds left.  Sterner was fouled after DSU played keep away for nine seconds and calmy knocked down two free throws and after a Monarch turnover, Sterner canned two more from the charity stripe to make it an eight-point game with 19 ticks left before a late 3 from KC provided the final tally.

Sterner finished with 25 points on 8-for-20 shooting and a perfect 8-for-8 from the foul line.  She added four assists and four steals.  Junior Morgan Birmelin (Honesdale, PA) recorded her third double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while also adding five assists and three blocks.  Freshman Kristina Polak (Bethlehem, PA) also played well off the bench scoring 12 points and blocking three shots.

King's got a double-double from both Mackenzie Yori (20 points, 10 rebounds) and Rebecca Prociak (11 points, 14 rebounds), while Alexis Steeber also reached double digits with 11.

The two teams were tied after both one quarter and one half of play and King's held a slim three-point advantage after three quarters.

The Bulldogs earned the win despite shooting just 31.0 percent from the field canning 87.5 percent (14-for-16) from the foul line.  DSU also forced 19 Monarch turnovers leading to 17 points and committted just five turnovers itself.  DeSales also controlled the paint out-scoring King's, 32-14, inside the lane.

DeSales is back on the hardwood on Tuesday when they travel to Misericordia University for another very important MAC Freedom battle.