DALLAS, Pa. – The Manhattanville women's basketball team fell to the Misericordia Cougars on Saturday afternoon by the score of 74-53. With the loss Manhattanville drops their second straight Freedom Conference match as their record falls to 0-2 in conference play.

The opening tip was gained by Manhattanville, but each side had one possession apiece without putting points on the board. The scoring was started off by senior Kelli Hyjek (Tolland, Conn./Tolland) who took a pass from junior Taylor Wilson (Pearl River, N.Y./Pearl River) after Wilson stole the ball from the Cougars.

The two sides kept the game close with neither side getting more than a four-point lead throughout the first 20 minutes of the game. Through the first half Manhattanville was led by Wilson with nine points on three three-pointers, senior Courtney Turner (Staten Island, N.Y./Ralph McKee) added six more for 15 of Manhattanville's 28 first half points.

After the break, with Misericordia leading by 30-28, the Cougars started the half with a quick 6-1 run through the first 4:29 of the second half. The Valiants finally hit one from the field when Wilson hit a layup which was followed quickly by a Cougar layup less than 10 seconds later to keep the Misericordia lead at seven.

After a Beranda Felder (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) layup trimmed the lead from 38-33, the Cougars went on a 7-0 run to open up a 12-point edge on their guests. Turner then took the spotlight for the next 1:07 of the game scoring six straight points before Misericordia broke the run with a three-pointer. Hyjek answered with a layup to cut the lead to 48-41 with 9:32 to go in the game.

Misericordia went on yet another run with five straight before Wilson was sent to the line and hit 1-of-2 with 6:54 remaining as the Cougars had an 11-point lead. Misericordia hit a pair at the line to take their largest lead to this point at 13, answered 10 second later by a Wilson layup. The Cougars then hit another pair of free throws to regain their 13 point edge.

The Cougars began to pull away late in the game by outscoring the Valiants 17-8 over the final 4:05 of the game. The last points for the Valiants came off of a steal and quick layup from Felder as time expired, as the Valiants fell by a score of 74-53.

Leading the way for Manhattanville once again was Wilson who had 17 points, including 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Second on the team was Turner who had 15 points and also led the Valiants in rebounds with seven. The Cougars had four players in double-figures led by Christine Marks who had 24 points and 19 boards.

Team stats were led by the Cougars as they shot 48.1% from the field to Manhattanville's 32.8%. Misericordia also went 18-of-23 from the charity stripe while the Valiants struggled going 6-for-16. Manhattanville did lead the turnover battle, giving the ball away only 17 times to the Cougars' 20.

Manhattanville (3-4, 0-2 Freedom) will be back in action on Wednesday evening at 7:00 p.m. in non-conference action when they travel to New York City to take on the NYU Violets. Misericordia will also play a non-conference opponent on Tuesday when they host Lebanon Valley at 1:00 p.m.