BOX SCORE
Dallas, PA - Misericordia University snapped a 18-18 tied with a 14-4 run over the final five minutes of the first half and scored the first eight points after halftime on their way to a - win over Marywood University in non-conference action Monday night. With the win, the Cougars even their record a 5-5 while the loss snaps the Pacers' three-game winning streak and drops them to 7-5 on the season.
The two teams swapped the lead four times over the opening three minutes of the contest. After Stephanie Fusaro (Bala Cynwyd, PA) gave Marywood a 6-5 lead with 17:44 to play in the opening period, Misericordia quickly responded and took a lead they would not relinquish on Jesse Robinson's jumper.
A field goal by the Cougars' Courtney Sykes gave the hosts an 18-11 lead with 9:26 to play, but Marywood rattled off seven straight points to tie the game at 18-18 with 5:44 remaining on a Marielle Thornsen (Belvidere, NJ) three-pointer.
Following Thornsen's trey, Misericordia outscored Marywood 14-4 to take a 32-23 halftime lead. The Cougars shot 62 percent from the floor in the first half, while Marywood hit 50 percent of their field goal attempts in the opening stanza.
The Cougars scored the first eight points of the second half to build a 40-23 lead before Mariah Schaeffer (Bainbridge, NY) drained back to back field goals to bring the Pacers to within 12 points with 15:24 to play.
Misericordia was able rebuilt a 17-point lead at 50-33 when Lacey DeGraw converted from the floor. An 8-2 run would bring culminated by an Amanda Lass (Brackney, PA) bucket with 8:01 to play would cut Marywood's deficit to 52-41, but the visitors were unable to come any closer in the loss to their former conference rival.
DeGraw finished with a game-high 20 points for the Cougars, who also got 10 points from Sykes. Christine Marks pulled down a team-best seven rebounds for Misericorida, while Marks, Robinson, and Vanessa Wright all scored eight points for the hosts.
The Pacers placed three players in double-digit points, led by 13 from Thornsen. Schaeffer finished the evening with 11 points, while Green added 10 points for Marywood, who got a game-high nine rebounds from Lass.
Marywood will return to action on Thursday when they host Cabrini College in a Colonial States Athletic Conference game scheduled to tip-off at 6:00 p.m. in Scranton.
