Center Valley, PA (February 26, 2020) - The #21 DeSales University women's basketball team used a terrific defensive effort and a fourth quarter offensive explosion to move past Eastern University, 69-54, in the MAC Freedom Postseason Tournament semifinals on Wednesday evening in Billera Hall.

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales - 69, Eastern - 54
• Records: DeSales (22-4 overall), Eastern (13-13 overall)
• The win advances DSU to the MAC Freedom Championship game for the fifth straight season where the Bulldogs will host King's College, who defeated Misericordia University in the other semifinal on Wednesday.
• DeSales will be in search of its second straight and eighth MAC Freedom Championship overall, while also helping to secure the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with a win on Saturday.

How it Happened

• DeSales held EU to just 28.6 percent shooting over the first 10 minutes of the game while also shooting just 28.6 percent itself in the opening quarter, but were able to build a 16-8 lead.
• The lead was stil five (20-15) at the 7:23 mark of the second quarter when Eastern scored 10 straight points to take a 25-20 lead with 4:52 left in the first-half.
• Senior Molly Jansco stopped the run with a lay-up, which started a 9-0 DeSales run to finish the first-half with the Bulldogs clinging to a 29-25 lead after a tight defensive battle in the opening half.
• The third quarter was more of the same tough hard nosed defense as neither team led by more than three points the entire quarter and DSU held a 42-40 advantage with one stanza to go.
• The fourth quarter belonged to DeSales as they scored the first 13 points and opened the final quarter on a 16-2 run to take a 58-42 lead with 3:56 to go and never looked back from there.
• Sophomore Samantha Shinkus scored six of the first eight points and junior Isabel Caruso put the icing on the cake with a three-pointer to cap off the spurt.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Sophomore Rylie Rittenhouse continued her stellar play off the bench recording her third straight double-double and her fourth of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Jansco finished with 14 points and pulled down eight boards.
• Shinkus added 13 points, hitting 7-of-8 from the free throw line and Caruso came off the bench to pour in 11 points and also grab six rebounds.
• Sophomore Averi Jordan had seven points and eight boards and freshman Maria Newsome finished with six assists and five steals.

For the Foes

• Minika Glenn had a game-high 18 points.
• Jaelyn Harris totaled 14 points and Kay Wulah added 11 points, eight rebounds, and five blocks.

Inside the Box Score

• DSU was shooting under 30 percent thru three quarters but torched the fourth quarter nets hitting 58.3 percent and 4-for-5 from outside the arc.
• DeSales was 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from downtown for the game and did a terrific job at the line hitting 23-for-29 (79.3 percent).
• The Bulldogs dominated the glass, out-rebounding Eastern, 45-29, and the DSU bench out-scored EU's, 28-1.

Up Next

• Tip for Saturday's MAC Freedom Championship game is set for 1:00 pm in Billera Hall.