GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. -- The Griffins fell in its home opener to Misericordia, 79-69, in the Gwynedd Mercy Tip-Off Tournament Friday night.

GMercyU will take on Salisbury tomorrow in the consolation game at noon. The Cougars will play The College of New Jersey in the championship at 2 p.m. TCNJ got off to a strong start in the first half, and would hold off the Sea Gulls, 58-45, in the evening's first contest.

Charlotte Kucowski led GM (0-2) with 20 points and 12 rebounds for her second double double in a row. Nicole Dombrowski added 10 points and Bianca Adams kicked in eight points, four assists, and three steals but it was the Cougars, who hit eight of their 13 three-pointers in the second half were able to knock off the Griffins and prevent them from reaching the championship game of their season-opening tournament in the seven-year existence.

Jaclyn Hajec led Misericordia (2-0) with a game-high 21 points as she connected on five treys of her own. Justine Seely totaled 10 points and 10 rebounds along with five steals and two blocks.

Thanks to a 53.6% shooting in the first quarter, Gwynedd would take a 17-14 lead. The Cougars would counter with a similar 17-14 score in the second as the two teams were deadlocked at 31-31 at the half.

Hoisington opened the third with a layup after a mid-court steal followed by a bucket off the glass from Kucowski and two free throw from Adams, and the Griffins went ahead 37-31 over the first two minutes of the quarter. But from there, Misericordia went on a 20-4 run using four three-pointers as part of it to take a 10-point lead with 2:24 in the stanza. Hoisington would hit on her only three of the night late in the quarter to cap an 8-2 run to pull GMercyU to 53-49 heading into the fourth.

Misericordia went 3-for-6 out of the gate in the final quarter with all three field goals being three pointers. With the score 62-58 with just over five minutes to play, the Cougars scored the next eight points and would lead by 12 after an elbow jumper from Shannon Croasdale. Greene's three-point play pulled GM within 72-66 with 1:22 showing, but Misericordia made just enough free throws the rest of the way to hold off any Griffin comeback.

Jayla Greene would also finish with eight points, which was a career high, and chip in four rebounds. The team was 25-of-54 (39.1%) from the floor but only 4-of-23 from downtown.  The Cougars' 13 three-pointers (13-of-30) were half of their total field goals on the night (26-of-69).