WILKES-BARRE, Pa. – A slow start out of the gates Wednesday evening proved costly as the Manhattanville College women's basketball team dropped their MAC Freedom opening contest 57-46 to Misericordia University at the Anderson Center.
 
Sophomore Kayleah McGuire (Somers, N.Y./Somers) led the way for Manhattanville, scoring 14 points on 4-9 shooting from the field and 6-7 from the free throw line.  The forward also hauled in eight rebounds on the night.  Freshman Nancy Caballero (Henderson, Nev./Liberty) added eight points and nine rebounds off the bench, and senior Sarah Kelley (Ewing, N.J./Ewing) netted seven points and eight rebounds for the Crimson and Black. 
 
After taking the lead with two free-throws from Kelley to open the scoring in the contest, the Valiants struggled to find the bottom of the net the rest of the first quarter, shooting just 18 percent from the field in the opening stanza.  Despite trailing 17-8 after the first ten minutes, the squad fought back late in the half, using a 5-0 run over the final 2:11 of the second quarter to cut the deficit to six points at the halftime intermission.
 
Continuing to fight back in the second half, the Valiants took their first lead since the 8:28 mark of the first quarter when McGuire completed a three-point play with 1:25 to play in the third quarter, giving the Valiants a 37-36 advantage.  Misericordia responded immediately however, using a bucket just eight seconds later to spark a 9-0 run to give the Cougars a 45-37 with 6:05 to play.  Kelley ended the run with a jumper just over the midway point of the final frame, and senior Kelsey Decker (Sidney, N.Y./Sidney) added a bucket of her own to cut the deficit back down to four points with 4:38 to play.  Three consecutive empty trips down the court proved costly, as the Cougars added three free-throws to push the lead back up to seven points.  The lead stretched as far as nine points before McGuire added three free throws to make it a six-point game with 39 seconds remaining but it was not enough as the Valiants were held scoreless the rest of the way, falling by the 57-46 final.
 
With the loss, the Valiants fall to 0-1 in conference play, snapping a four-game winning streak against Misericordia.  Manhattanville is now 4-7 overall on the year while the Cougars improve to 6-4, 1-0 in MAC Freedom play.
 
The team looks to bounce back from the loss on Saturday when they play host to the Lady Colonels of Wilkes University in a conference battle scheduled for 1:00 pm in Kennedy Gymnasium.