Wilkes-Barre – The Wilkes University women's basketball team battled Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom (MAC Freedom) leader Misericordia University to the final seconds Wednesday night at the Marts Center, falling by a final of 66-58.

The tight loss dropped Wilkes to 8-14 overall and to 2-9 in MAC Freedom games. Misericordia, who is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com Top 25 Poll, escaped with the road win to improve to 20-2 overall and 10-1 in the league.

Gabby Smicherko (Edwardsville, PA/Wyoming Valley West) scored the first points of the game for the Colonels on an and-one play inside the paint to even the game at 3-3. Gianna Roberts (Nanticoke, PA/Nanticoke) then gave Wilkes its first lead at 7-6 with layups on consecutive possessions. Misericordia then went up 11-7 but Brenna Babcock (Sweet Valley, PA/Northwest Area) came off the bench to hit a three-point shot with a foul for the four-point play to tie the game at 11-11 with 4:00 minutes left in the first quarter. Morgan Haefele and Vanessa Whitecavage (Shenandoah, PA/Marian Catholic) then traded threes. Erica Haefele then made three free throws after she was fouled behind the arc but Whitecavage again responded with a deep three-pointer to tie the score at 17-17 with 1:13 left. Whitecavage then made a layup before the horn to keep the game knotted 21-21 after the first 10 minutes.

Whitecavage continued her excellent play with a jumper to start the second quarter to give the Colonels a 23-21 lead. The lead would change eight times over the next five minutes as the two sides went toe-to-toe. A Babcock layup followed by two free throws by Roberts put the Colonels ahead 34-32 with 3:49 remaining until halftime. Maddie Kelley (Dallas, PA/Dallas) then hit from behind the arc to put Wilkes up five. Following a Cougars made jumper Kelley closed the first half with a layup to send the Colonels into the break with a 39-34 lead.

Misericordia would outscore Wilkes 12-6 in the third quarter to take a 46-45 lead into the final 10 minutes.

Babcock gave the Colonels the lead back 17 seconds into the fourth with a move in the paint. After the Cougars went ahead by three, the Colonels regained the lead at 51-50 on another Babcock layup as 6:17 showed on the clock. A 7-0 Misericordia run over a one minute span gave the visitors a 57-51 lead with 4:11 remaining. Back-to-back scores by Smicherko and Babcock inside though would cut the Cougar lead to two. After Tessa Zamolyi answered with a drive to the basket, Roberts put in work down low to score again as Wilkes trailed 59-57 with 2:53 left.

Zamolyi again made a layup on the next possession and Kelley would make one of two free throws on the Colonels next trip as the score stood at 61-58 with 1:45 left. The Colonels had chances to tie or cut into the lead after forcing two turnovers but were unable to find the bottom of the net. Misericordia finally added to their lead going 5-for-6 from the foul line over the final 26 seconds.

Roberts led Wilkes with 14 points while also adding six rebounds. Babcock finished a career-night in the Navy and Gold with 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Whitecavage ended with 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

Morgan Haefele led all scorers with 17 points to help Misericordia survive. Zamolyi and Alyssa Bondi added 14 points each and Jordan Barth had a game-high 14 rebounds.

The Colonels return to action Saturday to face cross-town rival King's College in McGrane Gymnasium at 1:00 p.m. The Monarchs won the meeting at the Marts Center 75-53 earlier this season.