Center Valley, PA (February 27, 2022) - The DeSales University women's basketball team won its fourth straight and 10th overall MAC Freedom Championship with a 68-54 win over Stevens in front of a packed house on Sunday afternoon in Billera Hall.

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales - 68, Stevens - 54
• Records: DeSales (21-3 Overall); Stevens (19-7 overall)
• The Bulldogs have now won four straight conference titles and 10 overall in the MAC Freedom.
• The win secures the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the 15th appearance in the "Big Dance" for the Bulldogs and 13th under head coach Fred Richter.
• The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday afternoon at 2:30 pm.
• DeSales will enter the NCAA Tournament having won 20 straight games and extended its school-record win streak at home to 27 games.
• It is the sixth straight win over Stevens and improves the Bulldogs to 8-2 all-time vs. the Ducks.

How it Happened

• This game did not start well for DeSales as Stevens jumped out to an 11-1 lead over the first six minutes of the game.
• DSU cut into the margin with an 8-2 run before the Ducks claimed a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play.
• The start of the second quarter was back-and-forth as Stevens continued to lead the entire way and by seven (25-18) at the 3:46 mark.
• The Bulldogs closed the half strong, however, finishing the half on an 8-0 run to take a 26-25 lead into the locker room.
• That run continued into the second-half as DeSales scored the first six points to take a 32-25 advantage and finished a dominating third quarter on a 9-2 run ignited by a three-point play from sophomore Lindsey Welsh to lead by 15 (47-32) after three.
• Stevens made a run at the magin to start the fourth quarter, getting within eight at the 6:31 mark, but DeSales countered with 12 straight points to take its largest lead of the game, 63-43, with 2:48 to go and never looked back from there.

Top Bulldog Performers

• Senior Averi Jordan was named the Tournament's Most Valuable Player finishing today's game just four assists shy of triple-double with 10 points, 12 rebounds, and six assists.
• Junior Megan Bealer scored a vert efficient 18 points on 8-of-11 shooting and added seven rebounds.
• Welsh came off the bench to score 15 points and had two massive blocks in the second-half.
• Sophomore Mikaela Reese finished with 16 points, five rebounds, and four assists in the win.

For the Foes

• Jess Broad was fantastic for the Ducks scoring a game-high 22 points in the loss.

Inside the Box Score

• DSU finished the game shooting just 37.3 percent but was outstanding from the free throw line hitting 22-of-27 (81.5 percent).
• The Bulldogs out-rebounded Stevens, 43-30.

Up Next

• The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday afternoon and will start on Friday with a site to be determined.