Center Valley, PA (December 10, 2022) - The #16 DeSales University women's basketball team was dominant on the defensive end holding Misericordia University to just 29 points in a 56-29 win in MAC Freedom action on Saturday afternoon in Billera Hall.

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales - 56, Wilkes - 29
• Records: DeSales (9-0, 4-0 MAC Freedom); Misericordia (7-3, 1-2 MAC Freedom)
• DeSales extends its home win streak to 33 straight.
• The Bulldogs have also won 45 straight MAC Freedom games including the postseason.
• DSU improves to 41-12 all-time vs. the Cougars and has now won 10 straight in the series.

How it Happened

• The Bulldogs opened up the game strong scoring 14 straight points to take a 14-3 lead before the Cougars ended the first quarter with six straight to get within five.
• Two straight buckets to start the second quarter by Misericordia tied the game at 14 as both teams struggled to find the bottom of the next over the seven minutes of the second quarter with the Bulldogs clinging to a 20-17 haftime lead.
• DSU led by six (30-24) with 3:16 left in the third quarter before finishing the quarter with six straight points to take its largest lead up to that point (36-24) after three.
• The fourth quarter was all Bulldogs as they shot 64.3 percent from the field in that quarter, pulling away from the Cougars for a comfortable 27-point win.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Junior Abigail Rafferty led the Bulldogs with 11 points and added eight rebounds, six assists, and three blocks.
• Junior Olivia Scotti also had double digits with 10 points and pulled down seven rebounds.
• Senior Maria Newsome and junior Lindsey Welsh each had nine points and Newsome finished with a career-high eight steals.
• Senior Megan Bealer finished with eight points, seven rebounds, and seven dimes.

For the Foes

• No one had double digits for the Cougars and Meaghan McCaffrey finished with a game-high 11 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• DeSales continued its outstanding defense entering the game ranked #1 in the country in scoring defense allowing just under 40 points per game, holding Misericordia to just 29 points and forcing the Cougars into 23.4 percent shooting for the game.
• DSU also forced 26 turnovers and scored 28 of its 56 points off those turnovers.
• DeSales won the rebounding battle, 44-32, and scored 15 second chance points.
• The Bulldogs had a 16-0 advantage in fast break points.

Up Next

• The Bulldogs break for finals this week and will return to action on Dec. 20th when they travel to Cabrini University for a non-conference game beginning at 2:00 pm.