WILKES-BARRE (PA) – Emily Soper scored 18 of her game-high 27 points in the second half as Delaware Valley College pulled away to an 83-65 triumph over host Wilkes University in a Freedom Conference game.

The win was the third straight for a young Aggie squad (three of the five starters are freshmen) as they improved to 9-4 overall and 1-2 in league action. They also matched their entire win total from last season. Delaware Valley will host four-time defending Freedom champion DeSales University on Saturday afternoon, January 14 (1:00 p.m.).

Delaware Valley trailed just once in the game and that was the opening bucket by the Lady Colonels (4-9, 0-3). It led by as many as eight in the opening half and, behind freshman Brenna Coll's 10 points, took a 38-33 advantage into the break.

Delaware Valley scored six of the first 10 points to open the second half, but a 7-0 run by Wilkes, including a trey by Amanda Pawlowski, tied the game at 44-44 with exactly 17 minutes left on the clock.   

It was all Delaware Valley from there, starting with an 8-0 run. Coll began the spurt with a layup and Soper followed with a pair of layups and a jumper.  The Lady Colonels responded with three straight, but the Aggies scored six straight to put the lead into double digits.

Delaware Valley upped its advantage to 14 with under five minutes to go. Wilkes made a final run and got to within nine, 74-65, with 2:37 on the clock. However, back-to-back layups by Soper and five points from senior Brittany Battinieri gave the Aggies a 9-0 run to end the game.

Soper was one shy of her season high for points as the junior forward/center hit 13 of 24 shots from the field and was 1-for-3 from the foul line. She also added five rebounds and two blocked shots. Coll finished the night with 16 points, seven boards and three assists while Battinieri contributed nine points, nine assists and three steals. Freshman Shannon Barlow nearly had a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds. Senior Sarah Delcasale came off the bench to notch nine points and four boards.

Megan Kazmerski paced Wilkes with 17 points. Whitney Connolly and Elena Stambone had 15 and 11 points respectively while Allison Walsh added seven points and a team-best nine rebounds.