DALLAS, PA - A decisive 28-14 third quarter was the difference Saturday afternoon, as the Misericordia Cougars beat a short-handed Manhattanville College women's basketball team 79-61, clinching the fourth and final spot in the MAC Freedom Tournament.

Manhattanville (18-7, 8-6 MACF) and Misericordia (16-9, 9-5 MACF) entered the day with identical records in conference play.

Freshman Sarah Coutu (Cranston, R.I./Cranston East) surpassed 300 points for the season with a game-high 24-point effort, 17 in the second half, on a 9-for-14 effort from the field, 5-for-6 from three-point range. Seniors Sam Milazzo (Bellmore, N.Y./John F Kennedy) and Joiada Darnell (St. Albans, N.Y./Humanities and the Arts) finished with a combined 15 points and 18 rebounds in their final collegiate game.

Quintessa Zamolyi and Paige Wampole each posted a double-double for the Cougars, as Zamolyi finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds, and Wampole added 15 points and a game-high 16 rebounds.

The Valiants, playing without the team's leading rebounder, sophomore Nancy Caballero (Henderson, Nev./Liberty), conceded a 49-32 advantage to the Cougars on the glass, just the sixth time in 25 games this season a team out-rebounded Manhattanville; 27 of the 49 rebounds for Misericordia came on the offensive glass, leading to 30 second-chance points for the Cougars.

Manhattanville led by one after the opening quarter, but Wampole had eight of her 12 first half points in the second quarter as Misericordia briefly opened a five-point advantage and took a 31-27 lead to the half.

After a Coutu three-pointer made it 46-39 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter, Misericordia responded with 13 of the next 15 points to open a 17-point lead. The two teams played to an even 20-20 fourth quarter. Zamolyi finished with 16 of her 20 in the second half.

The Valiants finish the season with the third-best single-season win percentage in program history (72%) and the best mark since the 1981-82 team finished 23-8 (74.2%).