Three Starters Score in Double Figures as Women's Basketball Defeats Wilmington, 62-52
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 22, 2014)- Three starters scored in double figures, as the Mercy College women's basketball team won its fourth game of the season, with a 62-52 defeat of Wilmington University on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks improve to 4-1, while the Wildcats remain winless at 0-4.
After trailing 4-0 early, senior Tanayzha Augustine (Poughkeepsie, N.Y. / Poughkeepsie) made her season debut by scoring the next six Mercy points to pull within four at 10-6.
The Wildcats took advantage of the Mavericks lack of ball security and opened up the lead to eight at 16-8, just before the 12 minute mark. Junior Tatiana Parish (Los Angeles, Calif. /Mt. San Antonio CC) rallied the Mavericks by connecting on two three pointers to close the lead to 19-16.
The Wildcats turned to star guard Tenicia Spence, who converted a three point play and nailed a jumper to take their largest lead of the game at 27-18.
Senior Brandone Roberts (Jessup, Md. / Nyack College) used her 6-4 frame to keep Wilmington from stretching the lead any further. Roberts made a jumper and two pairs of free throws to help Mercy maintain only a three point deficit at halftime.
In the second half, the Wildcats and the Mavericks traded buckets before Parish hit three 3-pointers in a row to regain the lead at 40-36. Wilmington responded with back-to-back layups for Jocelyn Rodriguez, immediately out of a 30 second timeout that evened the game at 40.
Mercy broke the tie on two three point plays for Augustine and junior Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y. / SUNYIT) to hold a 46-42 lead, with just over eight minutes to play. Spence had a bit of gas left in the tank, as she engineered a 10-4 run over the next four minutes to take a 52-50 lead.
Junior Erin Copeland (Kansas City, Kan. / Univ. of Illinois-Springfield) sealed the game for Mercy, as she scored seven of the final 12 points to help the Mavericks double its win total from a season ago.
For Mercy, Roberts, Augustine and Copeland all finished with 14 points, while Parish made five triples en-route to 15 points off the bench. Goodson grabbed seven boards and had three rejections.
Spence had her fourth 20-point performance of the season, finishing with 21 points.
Head Coach Rashidi Aikens have a week off, as they continued their home stand against the Warriors of Nyack College on Monday Dec. 1 at 5:30 p.m.
