Tyann McDaniel's 20 points led the way as the Misericordia University women's basketball team cruised to a 45-point victory over Delaware Valley, Saturday in the Anderson Center.

Coupled with King's loss at Manhattanville, the Cougars are now in first place in the Freedom Conference with six games remaining.

McDaniel shot a blistering 6-of-10 from behind the arc, and added six assists. Fellow sophomore Hannah Seely had 17 points and six boards, while classmate Katie Drayton totaled seven assists. Junior Jesse Robinson chipped in with 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

Even without Misericordia star center Christine Marks on the court, the Aggies were still no match for MU. The hosts were undersized and short on numbers but had complete control of the game from start to finish.

DVC went the first 8:24 without a field goal as the Cougars jumped out to a quick 16-3 advantage. Seely's steal led to a Drayton three-point play that made it 13-3 before the Aggies pulled back into it with a pair of threes.

Seely's aggressive defense continued, and her second strip and lay-in combination put Misericordia ahead by 10 with 6:03 left in the half.

The Cougars blew the game open late in the first half, knocking down treys on four consecutive possessions. McDaniel converted three of them, with Kayla Sileo adding a 25-footer. By the end of that dizzying sequence, the Aggies were down by 20.

The gap continued to widen after halftime, with two more McDaniel triples putting MU ahead 51-22 with 15:30 to play.

Freshman Lauren Smicherko beat the shot clock buzzer with a nice post move to make it 59-27 with 12:01 left on the clock.

DVC turned the ball over 21 times and shot just 22.0% from the field in the loss. The Aggies were 0-for-10 from three-point range in the second half.

Jackie Shunkweiler led Delaware Valley with 12 points. Emily Soper had four blocks and a game-high seven boards.

The Cougars improve to 11-7, 6-2 and host Baptist Bible, Monday at 7 PM.