DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Senior center Emily Soper notched 22 points, 13 rebounds and four blocks as Delaware Valley College rallied late and then held on for a 59-58, non-conference victory over The College of New Jersey.

It was the first game in 18 days for the Aggies as they improved to 5-6 on the season. The Lions, who recently had a seven-game winning streak snapped, fell to 8-4.

Delaware Valley, which trailed by as many as nine in the first half, took four-point lead on four separate occasions in the second half. The last was 51-47 with 10:47 to go, but TCNJ responded with a 9-2 spurt to regain the lead at 56-53 with 4:01 remaining. The Aggie defense then went to work and held the Lions without a basket for the next three-plus minutes. Meanwhile at the other end, Soper hit a free throw with 2:36 left and freshman Eireann Anastasi, who missed her previous four 3-point attempts, drained a bomb with 1:51 remaining for a 57-56 advantage. Soper then hit a jumper in the paint 46 seconds later to put Delaware Valley up three.

The Lions made it a one-point contest as Candace Vigo hit a layup inside with 40 seconds to go. They then got a steal on the inbounds pass but missed a jumper on the possession. TCNJ had two fouls to give and they did so over the next few seconds. Delaware Valley then had its inbounds pass at the other end of the court tipped and the Lions' came away with the ball. After a timeout, Tiffany DeTulio got an open look at a 3-pointer from the left corner, but it missed long off the rim and went out of bounds, giving the ball back to the Aggies with 2.4 seconds left. One tick later, Soper was fouled and she missed her free throw attempt on purpose. TCNJ grabbed the rebound, but did not have time to get off a shot and Delaware Valley had the win.

The Lions used strong rebounding on the offensive end in the first half to take a 34-30 advantage at the break. Half of their points came on second-chance opportunities as they had 10 offensive boards. They finished the evening with a 46-40 rebounding edge (17-15 offensive boards), but they shot just 24 percent from 3-point land and was just 6-for-12 from the foul line.

Soper hit 8 of 13 shots from the field and was 6-for-8 from the line for her second-highest point total of the year (23 versus Briarcliffe) and her seventh double-double. Brenna Coll added 11 points, nine rebounds and six assists while Anastasi finished with eight points and seven assists.

DeTulio hit four treys and paced TCNJ with 14 points. Kelly Roddy added 10 points while Jessica Lynch came off the bench to notch eight points, six rebounds, four steals and three assists.