Center Valley, PA (February 26, 2011) – Freshman Sondrine Glovas recorded her second straight double-double with 20 points and 10 rebounds and junior Hannah Smith hit the biggest shot of her career leading the DeSales University women's basketball team past Misericordia University, 63-59, clinching the Bulldogs unprecedented fourth straight Freedom Conference Championship in front of a sensational crowd in Billera Hall.
It is the sixth MAC/Freedom Conference title for DeSales (19-8 overall) who clinch the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament with pairings to be announced on Monday afternoon at 3:00 pm.
Glovas earned Freedom Conference Playoffs Most Valuable Player honors tallying double-doubles in both Freedom Conference playoff wins and averaging 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in the two games. Senior Megan Montchyk was outstanding in the win on Saturday, tossing in a season-high 13 points for the Bulldogs.
Senior Lori Lidlow finished with nine points, five assists, and three steals and was terrific on defense holding Tyann McDaniel to just seven points. Junior Cherelle Simmons added eight points and five rebounds and was equally terrific on defense, holding Christine Marks to just three first-half points before Marks poured it on late.
Smith was awesome, totaling eight points and six assists, while running the Bulldog offense and transition game to shear perfection. Her three-pointer at the 1:59 left in the game was without a doubt the biggest shot of her career and all but clinched the win for the Bulldogs.
Marks, the Freedom Conference Player of the Year, did finish with 19 points and 11 boards including 10 points over the final 5:30 of the game when the Cougars made a run at the Bulldogs lead. Jesse Robinson also reached double digits with 17 points and Courtney Sykes had nine tallies.
DeSales dominated the first half, racing out to a 14-3 lead and leading by as many as 19 points in the opening twenty minutes before posting a 37-23 edge at the break. The Bulldogs shot 50.0 from the field, held Misericordia to just 30.4 percent shooting, out-rebounded the Cougars, 18-11, forced 12 first-half turnovers, and hit five three-pointers. Glovas led the way with 15 of her 20 points in the opening half.
The start of the second half was more of the same as DeSales pushed its lead up to 19 points on an early three from Glovas and continued to lead by 18 points (48-30) at the 12:09 mark when Misericordia mounted a comeback.
Consecutive three's from McDaniel led a quick 8-0 run that cut the margin down to 10 points with 10:29 left. DSU countered with an 8-3 spurt that made it a 15-point game (56-41) with 7:41 showing on the clock but the Cougars had one last charge left in them.
Five straight free throws cut it back down to a 10-point game before a Glovas jumper ended the DSU scoring drought. Still up 10 points with 3:41 left, consecutive lay-ups from Marks cut it down to six points with 2:24 to go and with the shot clock winding down, Smith let go on a three-pointer from the left wing and hit nothing but net, pushing the lead up to nine with 1:59 remaining.
Still Misericordia would not go away and after a three-point play from Robinson on the other end, it was again a six-point game. Another long possession saw Smith toss up a desperation three at the shot clock buzzer that nearly fell but MU raced down the court and Marks converted again to pull the Cougars within four.
Forced to foul and with only three team fouls on the scoreboard, Misericordia eventually sent Glovas to the line for a 1-and-1 with 23 seconds left but Glovas missed the front end giving the Cougars the ball. MU frantically looked for an open shot on the other end but seemed confused on offense and after a baseline jumper was long from Hannah Seely, Sykes grabbed the rebound but before she get a shot off the buzzer sounded and the celebration was on for the Bulldogs.
DSU finished the game shooting 48.0 percent from the field, its second best shooting game of the season. The Bulldogs also hit 7-of-17 from downtown and had more assists (16) than turnovers (15) in the win. MU continued its terrific foul shooting, converting 85.0 percent and rebounded from a tough shooting first half, to shoot 40.9 percent from the field in the game.