DOYLESTOWN (PA) – The Delaware Valley College women's basketball team opened up a 20-point halftime lead and then had to hold at the end for a 70-67 victory over Freedom Conference rival DeSales University.
The win was the Aggies' second conference triumph this week as they were able to stave off Wilkes University on the road on Wednesday. It was also their fourth home win in as many tries bringing their record to 9-5 overall and 3-1 in league play. They are in sole possession of third place in the league standings in the early going, just a game behind nationally-ranked FDU-Florham and Eastern University.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs saw their eight-game winning streak come to an end as they fell to 12-3 overall and 2-2 in the Freedom.
Delaware Valley was ahead, 10-8, when it exploded for a 24-6 run for a 34-14 lead with 5:41 to play in the half. Four players combined for the 24 points in the run for the Aggies as Brenna Coll had nine points, Eireann Anastsi and Agatha Drozd had six apiece and Kelsey Kilpatrick hit a 3-pointer.
The lead went up to as many 22 before Delaware Valley took a 38-18 lead into the locker room. And it was the quartet of Aggies that did all the scoring in the half (Anastasi 13, Kilpatrick 10, Coll 9, Drozd 6). Delaware Valley shot 48 percent from the field in those opening 20 minutes while DeSales wss held to 25.9 percent shooting and turned the ball over 13 times.
The Bulldogs came out in the second half and scored seven straight points over the first 2:15, including three from Gabby Scott, to cut the lead to 13. The action went back and forth with both teams scoring before Kilpatrick hit a trey and Anastasi followed with a jumper to put the Aggies back up by 18, 54-36, with 12:37 to play.
The teams traded points as Alex Suk made a pair of free throws for DeSales and Anastasi hit a layup to keep the lead at 18. From there, the Bulldogs went on a 21-7 run that spanned eight minutes and 17 seconds and pulled them to within four, 63-59, with 3:10 remaining. During the run, Mikelyn Mackavage came off the bench to hit two big 3-pointers and Grant pitched in seven points of her own including a trey.
DeSales got as close as two, 67-75, when Sondrine Glovas hit a layup with 28 seconds left. Anastasi was fouled and the sophomore hit both of her shots to make it a two-possession game. The Bulldogs missed two shots before Grant hit inside with two seconds to go. Anastasi fouled with one tick left and she hit her second of two free throws. DeSales tried a halfcourt 3-pointer at the end but it was way short and Delaware Valley had the big conference win.
Both teams shot better than 42 percent from the field (47.8% for Delaware Valley, 41.9% for DeSales). The Aggies won the free throw battle as they shot 75 percent (21-for-28) compared to 52.4 percent (11-for-21) for the Bulldogs).
Anastasi led all scorers on the day with 27 points to go with three assists and two steals. Coll and Kilpatrick each had 13 points with Coll grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and Kilpatrick making three of five shots from beyond the arc. Drozd had six points and five assists.
DeSales was led by Glovas and her 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Grant was right behind her with 17 points on the afternoon.