DOYLESTOWN (PA) – The Misericordia University women's basketball never trailed on Saturday as it posted an 86-74 Middle Atlantic Conference (MAC) Freedom victory over host Delaware Valley University.
The Aggies fell to 9-12 overall and 5-5 in league play with four games remaining. They now find themselves in a tie for the fourth and final MAC Freedom playoff spot with Eastern University, which defeated King's College earlier in the day. The Cougars improved to 14-6 overall and 8-2 in the MAC Freedom. They are currently tied for second place with DeSales University and one game back of front-runner FDU-Florham.
The two teams exchanged 3-pointers to start the game with Shannon Croasdale connecting first for Misericordia followed by Sarah Wills for DelVal. A Japriya Carroll trey for the Cougars made it 6-3 before Sam Foy hit a layup. From there, Misericordia went on a 13-4 run to open up a 19-9 lead with 2:41 left in the opening stanza. They hit four treys in the quarter and led 21-13 going into the second.
The Cougars scored the first seven points of the second quarter, capped off by a Jaclyn Hajec 3-pointer that made it 28-13. Ashley Smink and Danielle Skedzielewski each scored at the other end for the Aggies before Hajec hit again from long range as Misericordia maintained a 14-point lead. Skedzielewski then scored the next six points of the game on a trio of layups to cut the Aggie deficit to eight, 31-23, with 2:48 left in the half. However, the Cougars used an 8-3 run to close the half and take a 39-26 advantage into the locker room.
The Misericordia run continued into the second half when it scored eight of the first 12 points for its largest lead of the game, 47-30, with 7:16 on the third quarter clock. Skedzielewski went on to score 12 of the Aggies' 20 third quarter points and the team trailed 57-46 going into the fourth.
In the final quarter, DelVal was able to cut its deficit to single digits when Skedzielewski connected from behind the arc to make it 66-58 with 5:24 to play. However, the Aggies could not get any closer as Misericordia outscored DelVal, 20-16, the rest of the way to escape with the 86-74 road victory.
The Aggies placed four players in double-digit scoring, led by 28 from Skedzielewski. Foy and Wills each had 12 points and Smink finished with 11. Wills led the way on the boards with eight, including three on the offensive end.
The Cougars were led by 22 points and 13 rebounds from Justine Seeley. Rachel Carmody also notched a double-double with 17 points and 11 boards while Carroll finished with 13 points.
DelVal will be back in action on Wednesday, February 8 when it travels to Manhattanville College for a 6 p.m. tip.