DALLAS, Pa. – The Delaware Valley women's basketball team opened MAC Freedom play at Misericordia to kick off the new year, falling to the Cougars 67-49 on Wednesday evening.
The Aggies struggled offensively through the first six minutes, falling behind by nine points before putting points on the board thanks to a 2-of-2 effort from the line by
Alexis Wright.
Aubrey Ennis put up five points over the next three minutes to keep DelVal within seven points of tying.
Ava Irizarry sunk the final bucket of the quarter to further cut the deficit down to five, 14-9.
Haley Keenan sunk the jumper in the first 30 seconds to put DelVal one three-pointer away from evening the score, 14-13, but the Cougars quickly regained their seven-point edge. Ennis knocked down her second three of the game combining with a jumper from Wright to make it a one-score game yet again. The teams went scoreless for nearly three minutes, but Misericordia's momentum picked up with a 13-4 run to take an 11-point lead, 31-20, into the half.
The Cougars built their lead up to as many as 13 points coming out of the half until Keenan paired with
Ciana Feliciano to knock it back down into single digits, 38-29, with 6:20 left in the frame. Misericordia used a 15-5 run to pull ahead by 19 points, but a 2-of-2 effort from
Payton Witman at the line brought the deficit down to 17, 53-36, to end the third quarter.
Buckets from Feliciano and Ennis put the Aggies as close at 16 points twice in two minutes of the final frame. The Cougars shot 1-of-2 from the line to recreate their 17-point lead, but Witman went on a solo 4-0 run to bring it back down to 13, 58-45, with just five minutes to play. The Cougars' offensive momentum couldn't be slowed with a 9-4 run to end the game with the 67-49 victory.
Witman was the only Aggie in double-digits recording 10 points for the night. She and Ennis led at the boards with five rebounds apiece. Keenan recorded a team-high five steals in the contest.
DelVal returns to action this Saturday, January 11 for its conference home-opener against Lebanon Valley set to tip off at 1 p.m.
