The Misericordia University women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaking 59-53 decision to King's, Wednesday night at the Anderson Center.

The Cougars led by as many as 12 points midway through the second half and remained in front until 3:03 remaining.

Lauren Smicherko led the Cougars with 16 points while Justine Seely and Nikki Baro had 10 points and eight rebounds each.

MU led 34-25 at halftime and maintained at least a five-point lead until 6:02 to go in the game.

After Nikki Baro drained a long jumper, Shelby Brochetti converted a Shannon Croasdale steal for a layup and a 39-29 lead less than four minutes into the second half.

King's cut the margin to six, the Cougars answered with three straight buckets to stretch the lead back to 45-33.

Nikki Baro grabbed an offensive rebound and sank a short jumper Smicherko posted up for a layup before Seely made two free throws with 13:07 left.

Nikki Baro drilled a pull up jumper to keep MU up by 12, 47-35, with 11:02 remaining.

King's scored seven straight points before Sam Baro buried a foul line jumper for 49-42 lead with 7:26 to go.

Nikki Baro hit two free throws for a 51-46 advantage with 5:45 to play, the Monarchs used an 11-0 run to take their first lead of the second half and pull ahead, 57-51, with 1:30 remaining.

Trailing 14-13 midway through the first half, Jaclyn Hajec hit a baseline jumper to put MU ahead and Smicherko beat the shot clock with a driving layup for a 17-14 lead.

Smicherko sandwiched two short jumpers around a King's basket for a 21-16 lead.

Shelby Brochetti knocked down a foul line jumper and Seely converted a three-point play for a 26-16 lead with 5:27 to go before halftime.

Misericordia shot an impressive 48.4% in the first half, but was limited to just 18.9% from the floor over the final 20 minutes.

MU, 0-16, will host Eastern, Saturday at 1:00.