The Misericordia University women's basketball season came to an end with a tough 61-57 loss at Tufts in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament, Friday.

Senior Christine Marks scored 22 points and gathered 12 rebounds while classmate Jesse Robinson scored 16 points.

Trailing 46-36 midway through the second half, the Cougars went on a 15-4 run to take a 51-50 lead with 5:19 to play.

Marks hit two three-pointers and Robinson made five from the charity stripe during the run.

Tufts went on an 8-0 run to go up 59-52 with 1:43 to play, but Marks hit two free throws and Robinson hit a deep ball to pull within two with 38 seconds left,  but that is as close as the Cougars came.

The Cougars got on the board early when Robinson and Hannah Seely both made layups to go up 4-0, but the Jumbos answered with two quick threes to make it 6-4.

Lauren Smicherko banked in a jumper and Christine Marks added a put-back to pull the Cougars within five, 19-14, halfway through the first half.

Tyann McDaniel hit a three from the left wing, Seely hit a jumper from the baseline and Marks added two free-throws to tie it at 24 with five minutes left to play in the first half.

Tufts hit two from behind the arc to end the first half up, 32-26.

MU ends their season with a record of 17-11.