ST. DAVIDS, Pa.--Eastern University Women's Basketball sprinted past the DeSales University Bulldogs 76-55 on Wednesday to finish the first half of the Freedom Conference season with a 6-1 record. Eastern's only conference loss so far this season came against the reigning national champion FDU-Florham Devils.
Eastern ran out to an 11-4 start that soon snowballed into a 31-8 Eagles' lead with 7:17 to go in the first half. The Eagles' defense badgered the Bulldogs, forcing 11 turnovers in that span and holding DeSales to a 4-for-21 start from the floor. By halftime, Eastern pushed its lead to 48-17. The Eagles led by as many as 39 points in the second half (69-30 with 10:42 remaining) before coasting to a 21-point wire-to-wire win.
At the friendly confines of the Gymnasium at St. Davids, the Eagles maintained a perfect record this season, 6-0. At home, Eastern is outscoring its opponents by an average of 27.4 points per game.
Senior forward Meghan Nowak led the onslaught with her 10th 20-point game of the year. She scored 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting and had four steals and four rebounds in 23 minutes of play. Nowak continues to lead the conference with 19.4 points per game.
Gina DiDomenico, a senior guard, knocked down five 3-pointers on seven attempts, her highest number of makes this season. DiDomenico is lethal from long range and actually shoots seven percentage points higher outside the arc than in; she is sniping 40.4 percent of her targets from beyond the arc this year.
Eagles' sophomore forward Emily Lavin set a career high in blocks, rejecting eight DeSales attempts. Lavin was pushing triple-double territory with 14 points and 13 rebounds. She also had five assists.
Kaitlyn Dougherty continued her pursuit of the 1,000-point career mark with 11 more points, pushing her total to 956. Dougherty amazingly reached double-digits while going 1-for-1 from the floor (a 3-pointer) and knocking down 8-of-8 free throw attempts.
No Bulldog reached double-figures in scoring. Forward Morgan McCollian led DeSales with eight points. The Bulldogs shot 29 percent from the floor, their second-worst performance of the year, while Eastern shot an above-average 46.9 percent.
Eastern, now 14-4 overall, begins the second half of conference play on Saturday at home against Delaware Valley College.
Wednesday night's game was the Eagles' annual "Think Pink" game in which they show solidarity with those battling breast cancer. Prior to the game the team honored the moms of Taylor Price and Meghan Nowak, both who had been affected by breast cancer. On Saturday, the Eagles will be holding "Where Angels Play" day, a special day spreading awareness about the Where Angels Play Foundation which builds playgrounds in memory of deceased children, especially in areas that have experienced tragedy.
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