DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Brittany Battinieri scored 28 points and became Delaware Valley College's all-time leader in 3-pointers, but it wasn't enough as the Aggies dropped an 80-71 home decision to three-time defending Freedom Conference champion DeSales University.
The victory put the Bulldogs in a first-place tie with King's College and Misericordia University as they are 14-7 overall and 7-3 in the Freedom. Delaware Valley saw its record fall to 9-12 overall and 3-7 in the conference.
Battinieri entered the game with 185 career treys and just four behind former teammate and 2008 graduate Moira Donohue's record total of 189. The senior guard matched the record in the first half with the last banking off the backboard and in with 8:28 remaining to give the Aggies a 17-15 lead. Delaware Valley upped the advantage to four before a late DeSales gave the Bulldogs a 30-27 lead at the break.
DeSales scored the first four points of the second half and eight of the first 11, all by Lori Lidlow, to take an eight point advantage. The Aggies responded with an 8-0 run to tie the game. Lidlow connected for five more points with Soper and Battinieri combining for three for Delaware Valley to leave DeSales with a 43-41 advantage with 12:20 remaining.
Battinieri hit a pair from the foul line and Sarah Innerst followed with a jumper to give the Aggies a two-point lead. Lidlow scored her 15th consecutive point for the Bulldogs to tie the game and Cherelle Simmons followed with a layup – the first points in the half for DeSales by someone other than Lidlow – to regain the lead for good for the Bulldogs
DeSales built the advantage to nine before Delaware Valley made a 7-0 run, culminating in Battinieri's record-breaking 3-pointer, for a 55-53 ballgame with 6:44 remaining. However, after an offensive rebound by Lidlow, Sondrine Glovas drilled a big trey for a five-point lead. Battinieri hit one free throw the next time down, but four straight free throws by DeSales made it 62-54 and the Aggies never got closer than six points the rest of the way.
Battinieri finished 6-for-12 from 3-point land, en route to her season-high scoring performance. She is now just 27 points shy of becoming the 12th player in program history to reach the 1,000-point milestone with four games remaining. Emily Soper added 13 points, eight rebounds and six blocks while Sarah Delcasale had 11 points. Innerst finished with a career-high 14 rebounds.
Lidlow had 26 points, including 24 in the second half, to pace DeSales. Glovas (16 points, 13 rebounds) and Cherelle Simmons (10 points, 12 rebounds) notched double-doubles in the win.