ABINGTON (PA)---The Delaware Valley women's basketball team led from the onset and used a big third quarter to secure the win in a wire-to-wire victory at PSU-Abington, 85-57, in non-conference action.
After neither team scored for the first 2:54 of the contest, sophomore Haley Keenan knocked down a triple to put the Aggies (3-3) on the board first. Taylor Richardson connected on back-to-back baskets to cap off a 7-0 run to start the game for DelVal. The Aggies would end up leading 18-4 with 2:57 left in the first quarter after an 11-4 burst. PSU-Abington (1-2) closed the gap to 22-12 over the final 2:25 of the first quarter.
The Aggies played stellar defense to start the game, as the Nittany Lions didn't convert a field goal until the 3:27 mark.
PSU-Abington scored the first five points of the second quarter to trail 22-17. The Aggies ended the run with baskets by Lauren Moretti and Taylor Richardson to extend the lead back to nine. The Nittany Lions yet again cut the lead to five with a mini 4-0 burst with 5:15 left in the second quarter, but the Aggies quickly turned things around.
Richardson connected on a layup, Kyarra Williams hit a three and Keenan hit two free throws to grow the DelVal lead to 33-21 with 3:21 left in the half. PSU-Abington got to as close as eight, but the Aggies ended the half on an 8-2 burst capped off by a Keenan triple to take a 41-27 advantage into halftime.
The Aggies wasted no time putting the game away in the third quarter, as they opened up the first 4:57 of the second half on a 14-2 run to extend their lead to 55-29, the largest of the game to that point. Lauren Moretti scored five points over that stretch, while Keenan scored four, Williams had three and King contributed two. DelVal shot 5-7 during the run and came away with four steals.
After the lead sat at 57-34 with 2:59 left in the quarter, The Aggies rattled off a 12-5 run which saw five different Aggies score to give the visitors a 67-37 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
Just under two minutes into the fourth, a Moretti layup gave the Aggies a 71-38 lead, their biggest advantage of the game. DelVal comfortably controlled the contest the rest of the way en route to the 85-57 win.
Sophomore Haley Keenan, who set a career-high with 23 points against Juniata on Saturday, finished with a new career-best of 28 on 10-18 shooting (4-9 from three). She recorded her second consecutive double-double, as she added 12 rebounds to go along with five steals, four assists and two blocks.
Taylor Richardson also finished with her seconds straight double-double, as she had 12 points and ten rebounds. She contributed four assists and came away with three steals.
Lauren Moretti was second on the team in scoring with 13 points while finishing with seven assists, the most by an Aggie this season. The senior corralled five rebounds and had three steals.
Kyarra Williams was the fourth and final Aggie in double figures with ten points. The junior also caused trouble for the Nittany Lions, as she came away with four steals.
The Aggies played an all-around game, as every player found their way into the scoring column in the victory. Madyson Smith, Jess Williamson and Katie Fry each scored their first career points in the win.
DelVal will be back in action to kick off the Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom schedule at FDU-Florham on Wednesday, December 1 at 6PM.
