Center Valley, PA (February 14, 2023) - The #8/9th ranked DeSales University women's basketball rode a playoff like atmosphere in Billera Hall to a 61-50 win over Stevens to clinch the top seed in the MAC Freedom postseason tournament on Tuesday evening avenging its only loss of the season.

The Basics

• Final Score: #8/9 DeSales - 61, Stevens - 50
• Records: #8/9 DeSales (23-1, 14-1 MAC Freedom); Stevens (20-4, 13-2 MAC Freedom)
• The win clinches the top seed in next week's MAC Freedom postseason tournament as DSU moves one game ahead of the Ducks with one game remaining in the MAC Freedom regular season.
• The Bulldogs extends its school-record home win streak to 39 straight.
• It is DSU's eighth straight win overall and DeSales improves to 9-3 all-time vs. the Ducks.

How it Happened

• DeSales raced out of the gates in this one opening up a 16-2 over the first 6:16 of the first quarter before Stevens scored the final eight points to get within six after one quarter of play.
• The lead was five with 3:35 left in the second quarter when the Ducks got hot from deep hitting 3 3's over the final three minutes of the quarter ending the half on an 11-3 run to take a 30-27 lead into the locker room.
• The Bulldogs continued to trail by one with 4:38 to go in the third quarter before back-to-back 3's from senior Maria Newsome gave the Bulldogs a four-point advantage and a three from junior Lindsey Welsh at the third quarter buzzer pushed DeSales up five (43-38) after 30 minutes of action.
• The lead swelled to nine mid-way thru the half and the Ducks never got any closer than six the rest of the way as DSU clinched the win at the line hitting 7-of-9 from the charity stripe over the final three minutes.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Senior Megan Bealer was sensational finishing with her fourth double-double of the year totaling a career-high 25 points and adding 12 rebounds and five steals.
• Junior Lindsey Welsh had her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds, falling just four helpers shy of a triple-double with six dimes.
• Newsome was terrific totaling a season-high 10 points.
• Junior Abigail Rafferty was just one point shy of a double-double with nine points and 14 rebounds.

For the Foes

• Jess Broad led the Ducks with 19 points.
• Lucy Alberici came off the bench to score 13 points.
• Amber Porrett had 15 rebounds.

Inside the Box Score

• After going 5-for-10 in the first-half from three-point land, Stevens hit just 1-for-6 in the second-half.
• The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Ducks, 48-39, and had a 13-2 edge in second chance points.

Up Next

• DeSales wraps-up the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Arcadia University for the final game of the MAC Freedom regular season with tip set for 1:00 pm.