DOYLESTOWN (PA) – Delaware Valley College hit its first seven shots from the field and cruised from there as the Aggies clinched a Freedom Conference tournament berth for the first time since 2010 with their 68-48 triumph over league foe Misericordia University.

The victory was the third in the row for the Aggies and kept their home unbeaten streak alive at 9-0 as they improved to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in the Freedom.  The Cougars dropped to 8-14 overall and 4-8 in league play.

Delaware Valley's 8-4 conference mark has them in a three-way tie for second place with DeSales University and Eastern University which were each victorious on Saturday as well.  All three have two Freedom games remaining with the Aggies traveling to Manhattanville College (4-8) on Wednesday and concluding the regular-season at home against conference front-runner and sixth-ranked FDU-Florham (12-0) next Saturday.

Delaware Valley came out running and firing in the first half as it did not miss a shot from the field or the foul line for the first five minutes and 11 seconds. Six of the Aggies' first seven baskets were layups, many in transition. They also hit two from the foul line to build a 16-6 lead. After the Aggies' first miss, they grabbed the offensive rebound and added hoop on a Shannon Barlow jumper for an 18-6 advantage with 14:43 remaining. Barlow, Eireann Anastasi and Brenna Coll had six points apiece over that stretch. 

The Aggies continued on, scoring 13 of the games next 20 points to extend the lead to 31-13 with 6:44 to play in the half.  They build the advantage to as many as 23 behind 60 percent shooting from the field and a perfect 8-of-8 from the line and they took a 44-21 lead into the break.  Anastasi (17), Barlow (8) and Coll (11) combined for 36 points in the stanza.

Brittany Wood opened the second half with a deep three that sparked a 7-2 run for Delaware Valley and its largest lead of the game at 51-23.  Hannah Seely responded with a two straight layups that started an 8-2 spurt for the Cougars and cut the deficit back to 22, 53-31, with 11:55 to play.

After a 7-2 run by the Aggies that made it a 60-33 contest, Misericordia scored 12 straight points to get to within 15 with 6:30 to play.  However, that was as close as the Cougars would get to Delaware Valley as it pulled away with the 68-48 victory and a spot in the Freedom tournament.

The Aggies shot nearly 51 percent from the field and placed three players in double digits. Anastasi led the way with 21 points, eight assists and five rebounds.  Coll added 19 points, four rebounds and three assists while Barlow finished the day with 10 points and three assists.  Wood contributed seven points and seven boards while Agatha Drozd had five points, five assists and four rebounds.

Seely paced The Cougars with 11 points and eight rebounds while Sam Baro and Katie Drayton had 10 and nine points respectively.