St. David's, PA (January 8, 2011) – Eastern University shot 65.2 percent from the field in the second half and erased as much as a 15-point deficit, upsetting DeSales University, 60-56, in Freedom Conference action on a snowy Saturday afternoon.
Junior Cherelle Simmons and sophomore Colleen Gavin were each terrific in the loss recording double-doubles with 13 points and 11 boards for Simmons and 12 points and 15 rebounds for Gavin to lead the Bulldogs (6-6, 1-2 Freedom).
Freshman Sondrine Glovas also reached double figures with 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds and senior Megan Montchyk led the charge off the bench with eight points. Senior Lori Lidlow also had eight points in just 19 minutes of action.
The Eagles (8-4, 1-2 Freedom) got a tremendous effort from their junior transfer, Shante Jones, who totaled 34 points on 13-of-23 shooting and also grabbed six rebounds and made six steals. Lori Wileczek was also in double digits with 12 points and Bekah Roland finished with five points and 10 boards in the win.
The Bulldogs had complete control of this game in the first half using a 13-3 run mid-way thru the first half to take a 30-15 lead with 3:21 left to play in the opening half. EU got a three from Wileczek and three points from Jones to end the half, cutting the margin to nine points (30-21) at the break.
DSU continued to lead by nine points at the 11:39 mark (42-33) before Eastern started its comeback. Another three from Wileczek completed the comeback as EU took its first lead since 5-4 early in the first half.
The Bulldogs quickly responded with a quick three from Montchyk and after two quick turnovers and two freebies from Glovas, DSU was back on top by four, 50-46.
EU scored on its next four possessions to erase that four-point deficit with a four-point lead of its own, 54-50, but once again DeSales rallied with jumpers from Simmons and Gavin to tie the game at 54.
An Eagle turnover saw the Bulldogs with a chance to take the lead but a missed jumper gave Eastern possession back and Wileczek again came thru for the hosts with a pull-up jumper at the foul line giving EU a 56-54 lead with 1:19 to go.
A turnover by the Bulldogs gave possession back to the Eagles and after a timeout, Jones drove the lane and hit an off-balance lay-up and after another DSU turnover, Jones hit two freebies to ice the game.
The Bulldogs dominated the glass, out-rebounding the Eagles, 41-26, but committed 22 turnovers as compared to 19 for Eastern. EU, who shot just 30.4 percent from the field in the opening half, made 15-of-23 shots in the second half to earn the comeback win. DSU converted just 20.8 percent (5-for-24) from beyond the arc in the loss.
DeSales returns to action on Monday when they take on local rival Muhlenberg College in a non -conference game starting at 7:00 pm.