CENTER VALLEY (PA) – Two-time defending Freedom Conference champion DeSales advanced to the championship game as the second-seeded Bulldogs downed third-seeded Delaware Valley College, 75-51 in Wednesday night's semifinal contest. 

The loss dropped the Aggies to 17-9 overall and they will now await word on whether or not they are selected for one of eight positions in the upcoming Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) South Region playoffs. The field will be announced on Monday, March 1 with quarterfinal action set to begin two days later.

DeSales improved to 17-9 and reached the Freedom Conference Championship Game for the third straight year where the Bulldogs will travel to top-seeded Manhattanville College.

Both teams struggled from the field and combined for 14 turnovers in the early going. Delaware Valley pulled to within one, 13-12, on a Kim Vennera jumper in the paint with 9:53 remaining. However, DeSales (17-9) scored 11 straight in a span of two minutes and 30 seconds to open up a 24-12 advantage.

Later in the stanza, three straight trips to the foul line resulted in five points for the Aggies as they cut the deficit to 28-21 with 4:23 on the clock. Jenna Peoples was 2-for-2 while Kim Vennera was 3-for-4. DeSales' leading scorer, Lori Lidlow (14 points), also went to the bench with her second foul during this time. 

However, the Bulldogs outscored Delaware Valley, 11-3, the rest of the way to take a 39-24 advantage into the intermission. Senior Kaila Wiand came off the bench and scored all 10 of her first-half points down the stretch to pace DeSales.

In the second half, Delaware Valley got as close as 13, 44-31, after Peoples drained a short jumper with 14:43 to go. However, the shots failed to fall all evening as the Aggies finished 14-for-58 (24.1%) from the field, including just 3-for-21 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.

Freshman Emily Soper paced the Aggies with 12 points and eight rebounds while Brittany Battinieri had 10 points. Vennera ended with nine points in what possibly could have been her final collegiate career. She moved into fourth place on the school's all-time scoring list with 1,410 points and is ranked in the top 10 in six other categories.

Lidlow finished with a game-high 21 points while Wiand and Cherelle Simmons added 15 and 12 points respectively.