The Misericordia University women's basketball team dropped their MAC matchup with Arcadia, Wednesday night at the Anderson Center. The Cougars had an explosive first half and led by 14 at halftime, but the Knights stormed back and won, 67-59.
 
Jocelyn Grosch and Ava Cirigliano shared the team lead in scoring with 18 points apiece. Grosch knocked down a pair of three-pointers and led the Cougars on the glass, bringing down seven rebounds.
 
Emily Romanowski recorded a team-high four steals for MU.
 
Grosch set the tone for the Misericordia offense by draining a shot from downtown just over a minute into the game. Cirigliano followed with a driving layup to put the Cougars up, 5-2. 
 
With the game tied at 11-11 with 2:42 to go in the first quarter, Morgan Janeski threaded a pass to Grosch, who finished at the rim to reclaim the lead for MU. The Cougars went on a 7-0 run with another layup from Grosch and a three from Chloe Captoni to take an 18-11 lead. 
 
Misericordia finished off a strong first frame with a Romanowski layup on a feed from Cirigliano as the Cougars led 20-14 after 10 minutes of action.
 
Arcadia's offense picked up the pace in the early stages of the second quarter, but MU had an answer on every possession. Cirigliano contributed seven-straight points with two layups and a three as the Cougars still held a five-point advantage. 
 
Romanowski forced a turnover and took the ball down the court for a fastbreak layup to extend the scoring streak to five-straight possessions for Misericordia. The Cougars now led 31-24 with 6:50 remaining in the half.
 
As time continued to tick down in the second quarter, Cirigliano drew two consecutive fouls and went 3-4 from the stripe to push MU's lead up to 11. 
 
With just over a minute and a half remaining in the quarter, Janeski dished a pass to Grosch, who cashed in on her shot from behind the arc. Grosch's second three of the half put Misericordia in control of a 45-31 lead heading into halftime. 
 
The Cougars shot 65.5 percent from the field and 30.8 percent from three-point range in the first half. The team moved the ball quickly on offense and scored nine fastbreak points. On defense, MU forced eight turnovers and collected 14 defensive rebounds.
 
The tides quickly began to turn in the third quarter, as Arcadia opened the second half with a 9-0 run. Caitlin Landgraf stopped the bleeding with a layup on a feed from Romanowski. The Cougars now led by seven.
 
Janeski drained a jumper with just under four minutes to go in the quarter to reach 10 points on the night. Misericordia held onto their seven-point lead, 51-44.
 
The Knights ended the quarter with a 6-0 run to cut their deficit down to a single point with 10 minutes remaining in the contest.
 
Arcadia's offense continued to heat up as they opened the scoring in the fourth frame with back-to-back threes to take a 56-51 lead. 
 
Misericordia continued to battle, but the Knights managed to complete the comeback and win the game, 67-59.
 
The Cougars embark on their last road trip of the regular season when they travel to FDU-Florham, Saturday at 1:00.