The Misericordia University women's basketball team moved to the top of the Freedom Conference standings after holding unbeaten King's without a two-point field goal for the first 28:14 of action, prevailing 57-52 over the visiting Monarchs.

Sophomore Tyann McDaniel had a team-high 17 points while junior Christine Marks totaled 15 points and eight rebounds. Katie Drayton pitched in with six boards and a game-high five assists.

MU is now 5-1 in Freedom Conference play and holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over King's (5-1) for the top spot in the league with eight games remaining.

The Cougars broke the contest open early in the second half. Junior Jesse Robinson scored six of MU's first eight points after the break, along with a nice post move by Marks.

A Courtney Sykes strip and lay-in pushed Misericordia's run to 15-0 and put the Cougars up 31-18. King's broke the streak with a pair of free throws but Sykes and McDaniel hit treys to stretch the gap to 36-20.

Lindsay Atchison's three-pointer gave King's its first field goal in over ten minutes of action. Atchison then followed that up with the visitors' first two-point basket of the night to pull back within single-digits. Celia Rader soon converted on the fast break to complete an 11-0 run that put the Lady Monarchs within range at 36-31.

Robinson finally broke the Misericordia slump with a runner plus the free throw. When McDaniel drained yet another three with 5:35 left to play, her fifth of the game, the Cougars had answered the Lady Monarchs' run with a 10-1 stretch of their own.

The Cougars played tough defense in the first half, holding the Lady Monarchs to just 14.8% shooting (4-of-27) from the floor. However, MU also struggled to get shots off at other end, and held a slim 21-18 lead at the break.

McDaniel got Misericordia off on the right foot with a pair of three-pointers in the opening four minutes to give MU a 6-2 lead.

King's rallied with five straight points but Robinson then answered Atchison's three-pointer with an open 15-footer to put Misericordia up 8-7. The next time down the floor, Drayton found Marks for a wide-open triple.

King's re-took the lead but with 9:09 left in the first period, Hannah Seely sank a jumper that put the hosts back up by a point. Abby Malloy answered with a three-pointer for King's.

With the Lady Monarchs pressing MU went scoreless for over four minutes until Marks broke the drought with a huge three to once again put Misericordia ahead by one.

Every one of King's made baskets in the first half was a three-pointer, and Rader hit another to put her team up 18-16. But Robinson and McDaniel (from behind the arc) answered before halftime and the Cougars went into the break with the lead.

Rader led King's with 17 points in just 19 minutes of action. Atchison added 13 points and Molly Dahl pulled down seven rebounds.

MU is 10-6 overall and will travel to FDU-Florham, Saturday at 1 PM.