DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College outscored visiting Misericordia University, 52-30, in the second half as the Aggies erased a seven-point deficit and notched a 73-58 victory over the defending Freedom Conference champions.

Delaware Valley improved to 7-10 overall and 1-5 in the Freedom while the Cougars saw their record drop to 8-7 and 3-3.

The Aggies shot 64 percent from the field (16-for-25) in the final 20 minutes and also went 17-for-21 (81 percent) from the foul line during that time. Leading the way was sophomore Agatha Drozd as she tallied 17 of her career-high 22 points in the second stanza, thanks to 6-for-7 shooting from the field. Drozd, who suffered a season-ending injury in the first practice last year, also added six rebounds and four assists to help Delaware Valley have a 51-39 edge on the boards.

Down 28-21 at the break, the Aggies opened the second half with a 10-2 run, including seven from freshman Eireann Anastasi, to take a one-point advantage. Back-to-back buckets by Hannah Seely regained the lead for Misericordia at 34-31, but Drozd followed with a 3-pointer and then a pair of free throws to ignite a 20-6 spurt that gave Delaware Valley a 51-40 advantage with 9:42 remaining. Drozd had a total of 12 points in the run while Anastasi added five. The Aggies upped the lead to as many as 17 while Misericordia never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Anastasi finished with 19 points, including 13 in the second half. Emily Soper had her ninth double-double of the season as she scored 13 points and grabbed 10 boards before fouling out. Leading scorer Brenna Coll was held to five points, but she had a game-high 17 rebounds and also dished out five assists.

Lauren Smicherko had 18 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cougars. Selly finished with 16 points and eight boards while Kayla Sileo came off the bench to drop in 10 points.