Led by another dominant performance from Christine Marks, Misericordia University rallied from a first-half deficit and pulled away from Wilkes in the second half to win their Freedom Conference opener, 81-60, Wednesday at Wilkes.

Marks had game highs in points (28) and rebounds (15) and was a perfect 14-14 from the foul line.

Tyann McDaniel added 22 points, including four three-pointers, and Hannah Seely added 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Jesse Robinson had 10 points and nine rebounds and the Cougars held a 53-31 rebounding advantage.

After closing the first half on an 11-2 run to take a 35-31 halftime lead, the Cougars opened a 46-35 lead just four minutes into the second half.

McDaniel started the second-half spurt with a layup and ended it with a three-pointer.

Kayla Sileo had back-to-back layups to give the Cougars a 50-38 lead with 12:06 to play and the Cougars maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the way.

Marks, Seely and Robinson combined to convert 10 straight free throws as the Cougars took a 62-46 lead with 7:30 left.

Wilkes scored five straight points to get within 66-53, but Marks sank four free throws to put the Cougars up, 70-53, with 3:27 to play.

Plagued by turnovers early, the Cougars trailed 17-8 after an 8-0 Wilkes run with 13:08 remaining in the first half.

McDaniel answered with a three-pointer and a Robinson layup got MU within three, 17-14, with 9:53 to play.

Trailing 24-14 with 7:41 remaining, Marks hit four straight free throws and a short jumper by Seely made it 24-20 at 6:18.

Another McDaniel three-pointer and a layup by Seely got MU within one, 26-25, with 4:02 to play.

Marks made a jumper to give the Cougars their first lead of the night, 27-26, with 3:29 to go and the Cougars closed the half on an 11-2 run.

Robinson, Katie Drayton and Marks added consecutive layups as the Cougars went ahead 35-28.

The Cougars are 2-3 and will host Manhattanville, Saturday at 1:00.