DALLAS, PA (January 29, 2020) -- The King's College women's basketball team trailed 24-14 after one and were unable to recover in the tough road loss as they fell to the Misericordia University Cougars, 76-62, Wednesday night in the Anderson Center in Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) play.

The Monarchs opened the game on a 4-0 run behind back-to-back layups by sophomore Samantha Rajza and senior Rebecca Prociak before the Cougars offense got started. King's led by three off a pair of free throws by freshman Emily Morano, but Misericordia scored seven unanswered points to take a 16-12 lead with 2:13 left in the opening quarter. The Cougars closed the quarter on an 8-2 run behind a pair of three's by the Haefele sisters to lead, 24-14. The Monarchs answered out of the break with an 8-2 run behind four points by Rajza, but Misericordia answered to score nine straight and build a 13-point lead with 6:10 to go in the half. The Cougars led by as much as 15, 40-25, off a layup by Tessa Zamolyi before the teams traded baskets to post the halftime score, 48-34.

Out of the break, Rajza scored the next five points for the Monarchs to cut the Cougar lead to 11, but Misericordia answered with a 13-2 run to hold a 63-41 advantage with 3:13 left in the third before a 5-3 Monarch run saw King's trailing 66-46, with one quarter left in regulation. The Cougars saw their largest lead of the night, 70-46, with 8:11 to play, and King's attempted to close the gap but their efforts came up just short as a layup by senior Sara Wolbert ended the game and saw the Monarchs' six-game win streak snapped on the road.

King's (12-6, 6-1 MAC Freedom) saw three in double figures in the loss, led by Rajza with 16 points on 7-of-14 shooting, adding a team-high eight rebounds and three steals. Sophomore Emily Kriston had a solid shooting night, recording 14 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 4-of-6 from three, with four rebounds, and Morano totaled 13 points. Senior Mackenzie Yori led the defense with four steals in the loss.

Misericordia (16-2, 6-1 MAC Freedom) had a hot shooting night, connecting for 44.1 percent of their shots, including 47.4 percent from beyond the arc. The Cougars saw four in double figures, behind a game-high 18 points by Erica Haefele, 15 points and seven rebounds from Zamolyi, a double-double of 13 points and 12 boards from Jordan Barth, and 10 points off the bench for Alyssa Bondi.

As a team, the Monarchs shot 35.1 percent (20-57) from the field, including 36.4 percent from three (8-22). They dished out 11 assists on their 20-made field goals, while totaling 30 boards and 13 steals. Inside the box score, the Monarchs held the advantage in points off turnovers with a 22-16 advantage over the Cougars.

King's is back on the road on Saturday as they head to DeSales University to take on the Bulldogs in the fight for the top spot in the MAC Freedom standings. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. in Center Valley.