Box Score Lauren Smicherko picked up her first double-double of the season, posting 12 points and 10 rebounds, but the Cougars fell 64-52 at Delaware Valley on Wednesday night.
Shelby Brochetti finished with 11 points and five boards while
Nikki Baro had eight points in the loss.
The Cougars competed hard the entier game, but especially early on with the lead changing hands four times in just the first 13 minutes.
Baro gave the Cougars their first lead of the game by hitting a jumper from the top of the key to make it a 6-4 game with 17 minutes left in the half.
Eireann Anastasi then hit back-to-back jumpers to put the Aggies ahead by three with 15 minutes left.
Later in the half,
Meghan Antrim hit one of her two free throws and Brochetti drove the lane to give MU the lead at 11-9.
The back and forth continued, as Anastasi again knocked down a shot from beyond the perimeter to give the Aggies the lead back at 12-11 with 13:30 left in the first half.
The lead changed hands again just minutes later, as
Shannon Croasdale drilled a shot from right in front of the Aggies' bench to give the Cougars a 15-14 lead with 11:27 left in the opening half.
Delaware Valley answered right back with a three of their own and the two teams traded buckets over the next two minutes until
Nikki Baro gave the Cougars the lead at 20-19 lead with another mid-range jumper with 7:44 left in the first half.
The Aggies offense awoke, closing the half on a 17-2 run to take a 36-22 lead at the half.
Smicherko opened the second half with a steal and finished on the other end while
Jaclyn Hajec nailed a three from the top of the key to cut the lead to 10.
Delaware Valley's offense then caught fire and led by as many as 17 with 11:02 left.
MU refused to give in, cutting the lead to 10 on back-to-back layups from
Justine Seely and Brochetti with just over five minutes left to play.
However, 10 was as close as the Cougars would come as Delaware Valley hung on for the 65-52 victory.
MU is back in action, Saturday afternoon at FDU-Florham at 1:00.
