CENTER VALLEY (PA) – Delaware Valley University's Eireann Anastasi netted 22 points and moved into second place on the school's all-time scoring list, but it wasn't enough as the Aggies dropped a 62-49 decision at Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom front-runner DeSales University.
The victory improved the Bulldogs to 16-5 overall and 9-1 in the conference. DelVal, which had won four straight heading into Saturday, slipped to 10-11 overall and 6-4 in MAC Freedom action. The Aggies are tied with Manhattanville College for third place in the league standings, but they hold the tiebreaker with a season sweep of the Valiants. Eastern University and King's College are two games behind at 4-6 with four games remaining and the top four teams advance to the MAC Freedom tournament.
Anastasi played all 40 minutes and upped her career scoring total to 1,613 points. In the process, she surpassed 2002 graduate and DelVal Hall of Famer Kristen Henry (1,600 points) for the second spot on the all-time list. 2000 graduate and Hall of Famer Jeanne Waznak holds the career record with 1,865 points.
Anastasi and her teammates struggled from the field all afternoon as the Aggies shot just 25.8 percent (16-for-62), including 16.7% (4-for-24) from 3-point land. DeSales was not much better as it hit 18 of 63 shots (28.6%) from the field (28.6%) and was 5-for-26 (19.2%) from long range. The Bulldogs picked up a 56-41 advantage on the boards, including 17 offensive rebounds that led to 17, second-chance points.
The Aggies went on an early 8-0 run, including a pair of treys from Kelsey Kilpatrick for a four-point lead. They eventually led by six, 12-6, after the first quarter and increased the lead to as many as eight early in the second. DelVal was still up six, 20-14, after Anastasi hit a jumper with 4:19 to go before halftime. However, the Aggies failed to score again in the stanza and DeSales added nine to its total, including four from Morgan McCollian, for a 23-20 lead at the break.
The Bulldogs hit the first two buckets of the second half and moved their advantage up to as many as 10 before taking a 42-34 score into the fourth quarter. DelVal got as close as six, 45-39, three minutes into the fourth after Brianna Rivello sank two free throws and Anastasi hit a layup. However, DeSales put the game away with a 9-2 run as four different players scored for the Bulldogs.
McCollian notched 13 points and 14 rebounds for DeSales. Katie Miller and Jen Napolitano had 10 points apiece while Morgan Birmelin added nine points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.
Anastasi added six rebounds, three assists and three steals to her 22 points. Kilpatrick hit a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 13 points while Sam Foy had eight points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots.
DelVal will host three of its final four regular-season games, starting with a meeting with Misericordia University on Wednesday, February 10 (6:00 p.m.).