Box Score Kayla Sileo scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds as the Misericordia University women's basketball team earned an important 62-45 Freedom Conference victory and snapped their five-game conference losing streak at Wilkes on Wednesday evening at the Martz Center.
 
Lauren Smicherko led the Cougars with a game-high 15 points while Hannah Seely added 11 and Tyann McDaniel 10 for a balanced MU attack.
 
“This was obviously a very important victory for us tonight,” said MU head coach Allison Kern. “We've been in a bit of a slump lately, so it was important for us to get a win. More importantly, it was important for us to remember how to play our game and execute a game-plan for 40 minutes.”
 
It was the Cougars who got on the board first, as Caitlin Kessler put back a Smicherko miss to give MU a 2-0 lead. After a Chelsea Brown layup for Wilkes tied the game, the Cougars scored eight-straight points as part of a 17-4 run to extend their lead to 19-6 on a Nikki Baro baseline pull-up with 11:35 remaining.
 
“Everything we did early on was sparked by our defense,” said Kern. “I think that when we apply pressure defense with five people all over the court like we've been trying to do, it makes things difficult for our opponents and serves as a catalyst for our offense.”
 
MU would continue to control play, maintaining a lead of at least 11 points and taking their largest lead of the half at 27-13 on a Sileo jumper with 3:26 remaining. Wilkes wouldn't give up, as Elena Stambone drilled back-to-back threes and Megan Kazmerski added a third to key an 11-2 Lady Colonels run to close the half and close the gap to 29-24.
 
“They've got some very talented players,” said Kern. “We had some miscommunication on screens and left them wide open, and they took advantage.”
 
Smicherko led the Cougars with 10 first half points while Seely added six points and three rebounds. After a strong start, the Cougars hit just one of their final nine field goal attempts and shot 34 percent overall for the half. Meanwhile, led by 13 first-half points by Stambone, hit four straight shots before a last second heave missed and shot 29 percent overall.
 
Both teams struggled to score early in the second half, but the Cougars were able to extend their lead back to 33-24 on a Krissy Hansen jumper with 14:48 to play. After back-to-back Lady Colonel layups by Megan Dragan and Stambone, Sam Baro would hit a pair of free throws to keep MU's lead at seven.
 
“I thought that it was really important for us to get out to a strong start at the beginning of the second half,” said Kern. “In recent games, we've come out of the locker room flat, so to come out with energy and extend our lead was key tonight.”
A Sileo layup and a Kessler jumper gave MU a 39-28 lead with 12:13 remaining, but Wilkes would answer with field goals on back-to-back possessions to close the gap back to seven points.
 
A Pawlowski three-pointer with 7:57 remaining would bring Wilkes within five and a Sileo layup was answered by a pair of Chelsea Brown free throws to make the score 45-40 with 7:13 to play.
 
The Lady Colonels would draw no closer, as a pair of Sileo layups and a McDaniel three sparked an 11-1 Cougar run to put the game out of reach.
 
“Kayla gave us a great effort out there tonight,” said Kern of the senior. “She made some great moves around the basket, and I think that this game will give her some confidence that will be important for us as a team down the stretch of the season.”
 
The Cougars shot 35 percent from the floor from the game and held Wilkes to just 21 percent shooting in the second half. More importantly, MU held a huge 57-46 rebounding advantage- the team's largest margin of the season.
 
“This was by far the best job we've done on the boards this season,” Kern said. “I was really impressed with our focus to find a body and box out on every possession.”
 
With the victory, the Cougars improve to 10-9 overall and 4-5 in the Freedom Conference. MU will host DeSales on Saturday at 1:00 PM in another important Freedom contest. The Cougars fell to the Bulldogs 77-62 in Center Valley on January 16.
 
“We can't rest on this victory,” said Kern. “We have to turn around on Saturday and face DeSales team that is very talented. We felt that we had some chances in that game, so we'll look to come back out and play 40 minutes of basketball.”