DOYLESTOWN (PA)--- The Delaware Valley women's basketball team exploded for a 19 point halftime lead and held on in the final 20 minutes to pick up their first Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom win, 58-53, over FDU-Florham.
Lauren Moretti and Haley Keenan started the game off with back-to-back layups. After FDU (1-13, 1-6) tied it at four, the Aggies (5-9, 1-6) popped off a 9-0 run started by a three-pointer from Moretti. Keenan then connected on a layup followed by five straight points from Moretti to make it 13-4 Aggies. The Devils scored five in a row to close the gap to four before DelVal took a 16-9 lead into the second quarter.
The Aggies came out hot in the second frame, as Keenan came away with back-to-back steals and layups. Kaela Stankiewicz hit a jumper and Keenan finished off the 11-0 run that spanned back to the first quarter, giving the Aggies a 24-9 lead. With the score sitting at 26-13 midway through the second, DelVal yet again strung together a big run. Moretti connected on a layup followed by a three pointer. Jess Williamson then knocked one down from beyond the arc before Ajah Kellam made a layup off a Williamson assist to finish out the 10-0 run and put the Aggies ahead 36-13 before they led 38-19 at halftime.
The Aggies shot 50% (16-of-32) in the first half while holding FDU to 26% shooting (8-of-31).
The Devils came out of halftime and put together a 9-2 burst sparked by two three pointers from Kiley Drezek and a triple from Angela Downey. The Aggies extend their lead back to 16 after a Scarlett King bucket with 3:09 left in the third quarter. From there, FDU finished the quarter on an 8-0 run, closing the gap to 44-36 heading to the final stanza.
The teams traded buckets for the first half of the fourth quarter, as DelVal held a 51-43 lead. Two more Devils' free throws made it 51-45 with 1:51 left before Tamyah Jones made a layup to bring the deficit to 51-47 with 1:12 left. The Aggies would go 7-of-8 from the free throw line in the final 48 seconds, including Keenan knocking down all six of her attempts, to close out the 58-53 win.
Lauren Moretti had a double-double with a season-high 25 points and 10 rebounds.
Haley Keenan was second on the team with 16 points and the sophomore pulled in seven rebounds while adding six assists and six steals, both career-highs.
Kaela Stankiewicz scored nine points with two assists.
Jess Williamson sparked the defense with three steals and Scarlett King had two blocks to go with seven rebounds.
The Aggies will be back in action Saturday, January 29th at King's for a 1 p.m. start.
