Sophomore point guard Tyann McDaniel drained six three-pointers as the Misericordia University women's basketball team improved to 2-0 in Freedom Conference play with a 60-45 victory over Eastern, Saturday in the Anderson Center.

McDaniel shot 6-of-10 from behind the arc and 8-for-12 overall, finishing with a game-high 22 points. Junior Christine Marks (18 points, 12 rebounds) turned in her customary double-double and classmate Jesse Robinson had a team-high eight assists.

MU has now won three straight and will head into the winter break at the top of the Freedom standings after beating Wilkes on Wednesday.

Courtney Sykes was on fire early for the Cougars, scoring the first three baskets of the game. The senior captain swished a baseline jumper, 2:40 in, that gave Misericordia a 6-0 lead.

Up 12-8, the Cougars ripped off a 13-2 run that featured three consecutive made three-pointers by McDaniel, the final one from the right corner to give MU a 23-10 lead. Kayla Sileo capped the run by stroking in a jumper.

Marks and Robinson each hit tough baskets in the paint late in the half. Marks executed a nice hook shot on the post with the shot clock expiring before Robinson came barreling into the lane and managed to finish an off-balance lay-in that made the score 32-17 in favor of the Cougars.

Eastern carried a brief 6-0 run into the second half, but Sykes (4-of-4 for the game) stopped it with another baseline jumper to put MU up 34-23 just after the break.

Robinson's three-point play increased the lead to 12, and while the Eagles crept to within nine on five separate occasions in the second half, that was the closest the visitors would get.

A confusing shot clock issue allowed the Cougars one second on the shot clock later in the second half, and Marks hit a great bank shot directly off Robinson's inbounds pass to beat the buzzer. McDaniel's sixth trey, with 6:58 remaining, put Misericordia up 54-37 and ended any thoughts of an Eastern comeback attempt.

The Eagles were led by Alysia Goodman (17 points, five boards). Shante Jones had a team-high six rebounds.

MU is 4-3 overall and will host Marywood next Saturday.