Freshman point guard Tyann McDaniel (5-of-8 from behind the arc, 20 points) and sophomore Christine Marks (24 points, 9 rebounds) combined to lead the Misericordia University women's basketball team past FDU-Florham by a score of 74-61, Saturday in the Anderson Center.

Marks, the top free-throw shooter in the Freedom Conference, was 11-of-12 from the line. Sophomore Jesse Robinson followed her mid-week scoring explosion with 16 points, and junior Courtney Sykes also contributed with eight points and eight rebounds.

It was a huge victory in the league standings for Misericordia, who could have fallen out of the top four with a loss but instead move to 9-7, 5-2 with seven conference games still to play.

Until she was subbed out with 9:40 remaining in the first half, McDaniel had a hand in every MU basket. After draining a trio of three-pointers in the opening five minutes, her second assist of the game found Marks for another trey, giving Misericordia a 16-13 advantage.

The teams traded hoops for the entire opening period. A fourth three-pointer by McDaniel gave MU a 27-26 lead with a minute remaining. The Devils answered with a basket but senior Vanessa Wright's bank-shot from the left side allowed the Cougars to enter halftime holding onto a one-point lead.

Sykes began the second half with two early three-pointers to open up a six-point advantage. Then she hustled back to break-up a clear FDU fast-break, which helped contribute to a run of 6:33 without a Devil field goal.

By the time FDU had broken the slump, Katie Drayton's lay-in had pushed the Cougar lead to 10, 49-39. The gap grew to as much as 14 when Marks' lay-in put MU up 61-47 with 5:32 remaining.

FDU tried to close late and pulled to within five in the final two minutes but the damage had been done.

The Devils were led by the sharp-shooting duo of Courtney Young (8-of-14, 19 points) and Lynn Lopez (4-of-7, 14 points). Center Danielle Michlovsky had a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds but was playing with four fouls for much of the second half.

Misericordia will host non-league opponent Penn College on Monday before traveling to Delaware Valley next weekend.