CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – The Fairleigh Dickinson University-Florham women's basketball pulled away early from the DeSales University Bulldogs with a strong defensive showing and went on to grab the 66-48 MAC Freedom victory on Saturday afternoon.
Four of the five starters for the Devils (17-6, 9-3 MAC Freedom) tallied double-digit scoring in the win over the Bulldogs (17-6, 10-2 MAC Freedom). Leading the charge was sophomore guard Danielle Leguillou, who tied her career-high with a game-high 18 points.
Also putting together a standout performance was senior forward Shalette Brown, who recorded her eighth consecutive double-double on the season, notching 12 points and bringing down 23 boards.
Junior forward Rachel Groom was alongside Brown in the frontcourt, totaling 10 points and four rebounds. Meanwhile, Alyssa McDonough came three assists shy of a double-double after scoring 16 points and dishing out seven assists.
The Bulldogs, who are the top three-point shooting team and rank second in the conference in scoring, were held to 19 percent from beyond the arc and 27 percent from the field.
After closing out the opening quarter on a 10-4 run, the Devils led the Bulldogs by a score of 13-8.
The Bulldogs scored three points to start the second stanza to cut the deficit to two, but the Devils responded by going on a 21-5 run that spanned over seven minutes. The run was ended once Megan Baird knocked down a three-point shot for DeSales.
As the halftime buzzer was seconds away from sounding, McDonough drove into the paint and scored on a layup to give the Devils a 17-point lead, 36-19. Brown crashed the boards hard in the first half as she grabbed 14 of her game-high 23 rebounds.
The Devils began the second half of play with a quick 7-0 run after back-to-back Leguillou scores and a McDonough fast-break layup.
However, the Bulldogs then looked inside for some scoring and consistently fed Morgan McCollian down low. The junior center scored nine of the Bulldogs' third quarter points. With McCollian wreaking havoc in the painted area, DeSales climbed back into the game by going on a 17-2 run.
The large run by the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit to single digits, 45-36, but that was as close as DeSales would get for the rest of the afternoon.
The Devils iced the game at the free throw line, going 9-for-10 from the charity stripe in the final two and a half minutes of play to grab the 66-48 conference win.
The Devils will return to Madison on Tuesday, February 16 for the final home contest of the regular season as they welcome the Wilkes University Colonels for a MAC Freedom game at 6 p.m.
