ST. DAVIDS, Pa. – Senior forward Regie Robinson and her teammates put up a great fight, but Eastern University University Women's Basketball fell to the No. 12 DeSales University Bulldogs, 62-59. Playing in the final home game of her career, Robinson finished with 18 points, 17 rebounds, and three blocked shots as the game stayed within two possessions for most of the second half. The Bulldogs (22-2, 13-0 MAC Freedom) ran their winning streak to 17 games, while the Eagles (10-14, 5-8 MAC Freedom) saw their streak snapped at five.

Even with the loss, the Eagles remain alive in the MAC Freedom Tournament hunt, a scenario which would have seemed beyond expectation in mid-January when the Eagles went winless through the first half of the league season. Eastern will earn the fourth seed in the MAC Freedom tournament with a win at Misericordia and a Manhattanville win at King's. Before tonight, the Bulldog's average margin of victory in MAC Freedom games was 28.4 points a game. Only once in their streak did an opponent have the ball with a chance to take a lead in the fourth quarter.

The program honored Robinson before the game.

How It Happened:
From the start, the Eagles executed on the defensive end. In a physical first half, The Eagles built a 13-8 lead with a little over a minute to play in the first quarter. The Bulldogs showed their ability to strike quickly with an 8-to-0 run to close out the quarter up 16-13. Samantha Shinkus hit two 3-pointers in the late burst.

The Bulldog run continued at the start of the second quarter and the Bulldog lead grew to 24-14 before Naomi Harris dropped in a tough jumper on a good feed from Brynn Schmidt. There were very few easy baskets in the game,a nd the Eagles scored another tough one on a put-back by Viki Kneis on a Schmidt miss.  Eastern scored seven of the final nine points of the half to go to the locker room trailing 28-25.

Eastern was 0-for-8 from the behind the arc and only made 10-of-35 shots from the floor, but ten offensive rebounds helped the Eagles to get more shots and the Bulldogs only took three free throws. Morgan Birmelin had 10 points to lead all scorers at the break. Robinson had seven points and nine rebounds.

The Eagles trailed 34-27 with a little more than six minutes to go in the third quarter, but after a pair of free throws from Brianna Young-Harris and a put-back basket from Robinson the DeSales lead was three, and the Eastern defense was locked in. The Bulldogs made only two field goals in the quarter, but they kept their edge until late by knocking down their free throws. The Eagles slowly closed the gap and pulled level at 42-42 on a Robinson jumper with half a minute to play.

The Bulldogs never opened up a lead bigger than six in the final frame, but they also never trailed. DeSales scored the first hoop of the fourth before Kneis dropped in a short jumper off a good feed in traffic from Naomi Harris. Harris finished the game with a game-high six assists.

After DeSales jumped to a 52-46 lead with 3:20 on the clock, Schmidt hit a 15-footer to close the gap. Kneis finished another pass from Harris after a defensive stop at the other end to pull within a basket. After the teams exchanged free throws, the Bulldogs led 56-52 with two minutes left. Naomi Harris hit a 3-pointer from the right wing to close the gap to a single point with less than two minutes to play. Birmelin answered with a pull-up 12-footer from the baseline to push the lead back to three points.

The Eagles got the ball inside, but a blocked shot stopped the possession and the Eagles had to chase the game. The Bulldogs made their foul shots down the stretch and held on.

Kneis joined Robinson double-figures with 12 points. Naomi Harris had three steals to go with her eight points and six assists. Schmidt was 3-of-4 from the floor and finished with seven points. Eastern made only 22-of-63 shots from the floor.

Shinkus led DeSales with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Birmelin finished with 16 points. The Bulldogs shot only 17-of-61 from the floor in the game. They did make 23-of-28 second-half free throws to secure the win.

Coach Houston Says:
"I was pleased with the way we executed our defensive game-plan tonight. We forced them to make plays and they made enough to get the win. I think we did a great job of playing each possession to the end. We won on the boards and we did not give them transition opportunities. Minika did a great job on 10 [Birmelin], and Naomi was able to create some good opportunities with the pass. Regie was outstanding on the boards and she hit some big shots. I think our players walk away from this knowing that we can compete."

"It would have been great to go into this final game controlling our own destiny for the tournament, but all we can do is go up there and try to win a game."

Up Next:
The Eagles play at Misericordia at 1:00 pm. At the same time, Manhattanville is playing at King's. If Eastern can beat the Cougars and Manhattanville wins, then the Eagles will play at DeSales next Wednesday.