DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Juniors Shannon Barlow and Brittany Wood notched the first double-doubles of their Delaware Valley College careers as the Aggies used a big second-half to remain undefeated at home and rout visiting Eastern University, 81-56, in a Freedom Conference game.

The win improved Delaware Valley to 13-8 overall, including a perfect 8-0 at James Work Gymnasium. More importantly, it moved the squad to 6-4 in Freedom action and one step closer to its first conference tournament berth since 2010. The Aggies remained in sole possession of the fourth and final spot and with a two-game lead over Manhattanville College and a three-game advantage over Misericordia University with just four games remaining. They also drew to within one game of both Eastern (12-9, 7-3) and DeSales University for second place.

Barlow, a 6-foot-1 center, shot 6-for-9 from the field and finished with 14 points. She also grabbed 10 rebounds and her strong defensive play held Eagle All-American center Meghan Nowak to just two points and six rebounds on 1-for-6 shooting. Wood, a 5-foot-11 guard who transferred to Delaware Valley after two years at Neumann University, hit four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points to go along with 10 rebounds.

Down three midway through the first half, Eastern scored four straight on a free throw from Kaitlyn Dougherty and a trey from Gina DiDomenico. The Aggies responded with eight straight and never trailed again. Barlow began the run with a layup and Kelsey Kilpatrick followed with a 3-pointer. Wood then hit her first bomb of the day for a 21-14 lead with 7:04 to go before the intermission.

Delaware Valley led by as many as 11 in the opening half and took a 29-20 advantage into the intermission. The Aggies hit four treys in the opening 20 minutes, held Eastern to 8-for-34 shooting (23.5%) and forced 10 turnovers.

Back-to-back layups by Barlow to start the second half gave Delaware Valley a 13-point lead. DiDomenico hit a jumper and Dougherty nailed a 3-pointer to pull the Eagles to within eight. But that was the last time their deficit was single digits as the Aggies exploded for a 16-2 run and a 49-27 lead with 13:42 remaining. Five different players scored in the spurt, including Wood who had back-to-back 3-pointers in an 18-second span.

Delaware Valley built the lead to as many as 28 in the contest as it shot 60 percent from the field in the second half, including a 5-for-10 effort from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Aggie defense forced 11 more turnovers and turned them into 18 points over those final 20 minutes.

In addition to Barlow and Wood's heroics, Eireann Anastasi notched 18 points and four assists while Kilpatrick came off the bench for 10 points. Agatha Drozd had nine points and six rebounds. The team's second-leading scorer, Brenna Coll, was held to just two points, but she contributed seven rebounds, six assists and five points in the win.

Dougherty was 3-for-3 from 3-point land and had a game-high 25 points for the Eagles. Tori Grossi was next in scoring as she came off the bench to pour in nine points in 15 minutes of action. DiDomenico had five points and 10 rebounds.