Jesse Robinson turned in a career night (28 points on 8-of-14 shooting), but the sophomore was unable to drag the Misericordia University women's basketball team past conference rival King's, Wednesday night in Wilkes-Barre. The sharp-shooting Lady Monarchs fired their way to a 64-59 victory by shooting 9-of-21 behind the arc, including six made three-pointers in the second half.

The Cougars fall to 8-7, 4-2 after their second consecutive Freedom Conference defeat. King's, also 4-2, joins them in a three-way tie for second place in the league standings (with Delaware Valley).

With Misericordia down 40-33 and under 15 minutes to play, Tyann McDaniel's three pointer was followed by a pair of Robinson free throws.

Robinson then drove the lane and almost tripped over a fallen teammate, but somehow flipped up an off-balance bank shot that dropped, completing a 7-0 run and tying the game at 40. Of course, the Lady Monarchs immediately answered with a corner three.

With 11:01 remaining, Robinson gave MU its first and only lead of the game with a three-point play. Yet again, King's answered with a trey, and then hit two more consecutive three-pointers to open up a 51-46 advantage.

The Cougars answered with four straight points, and McDaniel got a difficult shot in the lane to fall, cutting the lead back down to one.

After two King's baskets, Robinson fought her way into the lane, made her shot and was fouled. Her free throw gave her 26 on the night, and cut King's lead to three.

Robinson would hit two more free throws in the closing minutes to keep MU within one possession. With exactly a minute left however, her three-point attempt to tie looked good but just rimmed out. It was the closest Misericordia would get as King's was able to close out the win.

Robinson also had seven rebounds for the Cougars, trailing only Courtney Sykes (eight). Sophomore Christine Marks had 12 points.

The Cougars had gotten off to a rough start, turning the ball over on seven of their first nine possessions and spotting the Lady Monarchs a quick eight-point lead.

Misericordia was able to fight back thanks in large part to Robinson. The sophomore scored MU's first basket of the game at 14:37, and followed a McDaniel three-pointer with a lay-in to keep the King's advantage in single-digits.

Down by eight late in the first half, the Cougars held their opponents without a basket for almost five minutes, with a Marks lay-in completing an 8-1 run, although King's answered with a pair of three-pointers.

In the final minute of the period, Robinson hit two free throws to give her 13 points for the half. Sykes then hit a foul shot to pull MU within four going into the break.

King's three-point barrage was led by Brittany Muscatell (3-of-6 from behind the arc, 12 points) and Megan Rigous (3-of-7 from outside, 13 points). Julianna Lynott led the Lady Monarchs with 15 points.

The Cougars will look to get their Freedom Conference playoff push back on track when they host FDU-Florham on Saturday at 1PM.