ST. DAVIDS, Pa.- Eastern University Women's Basketball used a 17-0 run to erase a 10-point second-half deficit and pick up an enormous 69-66 home win over Freedom Conference rival DeSales. Gina DiDomenico scored all 15 of her points in the second half in the win.

Despite struggling with ball security throughout the first period, the Eagles were within a point when Meghan Nowak picked up her second foul and had to go to the bench. Nowak had 12 points nine rebounds on 6-of-10 shooting through the first sixteen minutes. Her efficiency at the offensive end and productivity on the glass helped counter Eastern's 16 first-half turnovers.

The Bulldogs used an 8-0 run to grab a 36-27 lead before Tori Grossi put back a Kelsie Patton miss close the gap to seven points at the break. Grossi scored six points and grabbed five offensive rebounds in the first half. Alexiah Grant led DeSales with 10 points at the break.

After trailing by nine early in the period, Eastern closed the gap to one on a DiDomenico 3-pointer with 13:52 to play. The Eagles forced two DeSales turnovers and had two chances to take the lead, but layups from Nowak and Dougherty rolled out and DeSales scored 10 of the next eleven points to lead 55-45 with 11:39 on the clock.

Nowak split a pair of free throws to start the run. Then the 3-pointers started to fall. Kaitlyn Dougherty and DiDomenico alternated successful attempts from distance and then Dougherty tied the game on a feed from DiDomenico with 9:18 to play. Kelsie Patton hit a runner in the lane to put the Eagles up and DiDomenico put the Eagles up 60-55 with seven and a half minutes to play.

Eastern Women's Basketball vs. DeSales [Game Recap] from EU Athletics on Vimeo.

Nowak capped the run with a one-footed 19-footer with the shot clock running down. The long 2-pointer was Nowak's only field goal of the second half.

Colleen Gavin scored two straight hoops for the visitors to pull DeSales to within three. Dougherty hit a pair of free throws, before DeSales scored five straight to tie the game with three minutes left. The Eagles, who only made 57 percent of their free throws for the game, made five of six in the final three minutes for the 69-66 win. Patton made the final two with ten seconds on the clock after Reilly Gavitt grabbed a rebound on a DeSales miss from the line.

The Eagles made 5-of-11 3-pointers in the second half and, led by Nowak's game-high 15 caroms, had a 46-34 edge on the glass. The strong shooting and rebounding was needed to counter 26 turnovers. DeSales finished with 20 more field goal attempts than the Eagles.

Nowak led the Eagles with 17 points, and Dougherty added 15. Gavin scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to lead DeSales.

The result puts the two teams in a three-way tie with Misericordia for third place in the Freedom Conference standings. The Eagles (7-10, 3-3) finish the first round of Freedom games with a home test against Wilkes on Wednesday night. That game is the first half of a doubleheader with the men. It is the final evening of Eastern's Season of Impact Coat Drive. Anyone bringing a coat for donation to City Team Ministries will be admitted to the game for free.

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