CENTER VALLEY (PA) – Eireann Anastasi banked in a pull-up jumper with 2.7 seconds remaining to give Delaware Valley College a 67-65, Freedom Conference road victory at DeSales University.
The win was the fourth in the last five games for the Aggies (the lone loss in that run was to defending national champion and top-ranked FDU-Florham) as they improved to 8-9 overall and 3-3 in league action. They will host winless Misericordia University on Wednesday with a chance to end the first half of Freedom play with a winning record. DeSales fell to 10-7 and 4-2.
That chance became possible thanks to Anastasi's game-winner. The Bulldogs had tied the game with Morgan McCollian's layup with 16 seconds to go and that came after Anastasi missed two free throws that could've made it a two-possession game. Delaware Valley crossed halfcourt and called timeout with 10 seconds left to set up a final play.
Brenna Coll passed the ball in to Anastasi on the other side of the halfcourt line. Anastasi dribbled while waiting for a screen from Coll at the top of the key. She drove into the lane off the screen and pulled up just past the foul line. Her shot banked off the glass and in for the 67-65 lead. A desperate 3-point halftime from halfcourt by DeSales was not even close and the Aggies had the big Freedom road win.
Delaware Valley got off to a quick start on Saturday afternoon as it scored 18 of the first 26 points of the contest. Coll had the team's first five points while Sam Foy came off the bench later in the run and added six points.
Later in the first half, Anastasi hit a pair of free throws for a 29-23 Aggie advantage. However, that all the scoring for Delaware Valley in the opening stanza as the Bulldogs went on a 13-0 run over the final 2:05 to take a 36-29 lead into the break. Megan Baird hit two treys and had eight total points in that spurt.
DeSales still owned a seven-point lead after the first six minutes of the second half when the Aggies erupted for a 13-2 run to regain the advantage at 53-49 with 8:48 remaining. Brittany Wood had seven points, including the final two at the foul line.
DeSales tied it back up with six minutes to go and then two more times over the next two minutes after the Aggies went ahead each time. Shannon Barlow then hit one free throw with 2:45 left and Agatha Drozd added two with 1:37 to go for a 64-61 Delaware Valley lead. Anastasi then hit one of two from the line with 55 seconds remaining for a two-possession game.
McCollian cut that in half for DeSales with two free throws for 33 seconds to go. That set the stage for her game-tying layup but then followed by Anastasi's winning jumper.
All five Aggie starters reached double figures in scoring. Coll led the way with 14 points and nine rebounds while Drozd and Wood had 12 points apiece. Drozd added six boards and five assists. Anastasi finished with 11 points as did Barlow.
Baird and McCollian had 17 and 16 points respective for the Bulldogs.