The Misericordia University women's basketball team defeated FDU-Florham, 71-59, Saturday afternoon.
Morgan Janeski led the Cougars with 26 points while
Caitlin Landgraf added 10.
Janeski scored the first basket for the Cougars as she fired up a three-pointer, tracked down her own miss and dropped in a short floater from the block.
On the next possession, Captoni drove into the paint and kicked it out to Mitchell, who made the extra swing pass to Janeski for a wide-open three from the left corner.
With just under three minutes left in the first quarter and the Cougars trailing 16-13, Cirigliano knocked down a baseline jumper to spark a quick 8-2 run, giving Misericordia a 21-18 lead heading into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, Misericordia endured a nearly three-minute scoring drought before Captoni knocked down an open three-pointer from the right corner to put the Cougars ahead, 24-21. Midway through the frame, Cirigliano caught the ball at the high post, jabbed right and made a quick move left to bury a pull-up jumper, extending the lead to 26-21.
With a 29-28 lead in the final two minutes of the half, Mitchell cashed in a three-pointer from the top of the key as the Cougars closed on an 11-2 run to take a 40-30 advantage into the break.
Cirigliano opened the second-half scoring with a fastbreak finish under the rim less than a minute into the third quarter. FDU-Florham responded with a quick 7-0 run before Janeski fought for an offensive rebound and converted the putback to push the lead to 44-37.
With three minutes remaining in the third, Captoni buried another three-pointer from the right wing to give Misericordia a 49-39 edge. The teams traded baskets down the stretch and the Cougars carried a 52-43 lead into the fourth quarter.
In the final period,
Brenna Hunt knocked down two free throws to stretch the lead to double digits. After an FDU-Florham three-pointer, Captoni answered with a pull-up floater in the paint to make it 56-46 with nine minutes to play.
Following an 8-0 run that trimmed the Misericordia lead to 56-53, Mitchell found Landgraf down low for a wide-open layup. Janeski then knocked down two free throws and beat the shot clock with a jumper as the Cougars pushed ahead 62-57 with just over four minutes remaining.
Over the final two minutes, with Misericordia leading 65-59, the Cougars went 4-for-6 from the free-throw line and sealed the victory with a Landgraf putback to secure the 71-59 win.
