Augustine Records Fifth Double-Double as Women's Basketball Faces Daemen
Box Score DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 17, 2015) – Senior Tanayzha Augustine (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie) had 18 points and a game-high 17 rebounds, but that was not enough as the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 70-64 decision to East Coast Conference foe Daemen College on Saturday afternoon at Mercy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (7-8, 1-7 ECC) have now dropped six in a row, while the Wildcats (7-6, 4-3 ECC) move over .500 on the year and in league play.
Augustine recorded her fifth double-double of the season going 6-of-15 from the field and secured a season-high in rebounds, while also rejecting a game-high four shots. Fellow senior Brandone Roberts (Jessup, Md./Nyack College) added her team-leading sixth double-double of the year by way of 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman Casey Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn./Saint Bernard) had a breakout game for Mercy, scoring a career-high-tying 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and junior Tatiana Parish (Los Angeles, Calif./Mt. San Antonio CC) chipped in nine points off the bench.
Leading four in double figures for Daemen was Natalie Galus who shared game high honors with Augustine ending the day with 18 points.
The opening frame saw the visitors jump out to a 14-10 lead with 12:31 left in the half, but the Mavericks would respond with an 11-0 run to take a 21-14 lead at the 9:04 mark following three trifectas in a row from Parish and Sullivan.
However, the Wildcats would storm back with a 16-3 spurt that gave them back the lead at 30-24 with just over four minutes left before halftime. Mercy would cut the deficit to one, 32-31, following a Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y./SUNYIT) jumper, but Daemen would end the half on a 5-0 run to head into the break up 37-31.
Neither team shot the ball in the opening stanza as the Mavericks held a slight edge shooting 36.7 percent from the floor compared to 36.1 percent for the Wildcats. Mercy was also able to go 5-of-10 from downtown to stay within striking distance.
Daemen got on the board first in the second half to take a 40-31 lead and it looked like they may be taking control of the game. However, just as last night the Mavericks clawed its way back into the game going on an 18-2 run over the next five minutes to take their largest lead of the game at 49-42 with 13:56 remaining.
The Wildcats would stay within striking distance and finally tied the score up at 58-58 with 4:11 left on the clock. Augustine would connect on a pair of free throws to give the lead back to Mercy at 60-58, but Daemen came right back and answered to tie it back up at 60-60 with 3:33 remaining.
The teams would go nearly two minutes without scoring until junior Erin Copeland (Kansas City, Kan./Univ. of Illinois-Springfield) made a layup with 1:54 left in regulation. A Natalie Galus layup tied the game up once again at 62-62 at the 1:36 mark but Augustine once again stepped up and nailed a jumper to give the Mavericks back the lead with just over a minute left. An ensuing foul by Mercy sent the Wildcats to the line where they connected on both to even up the score at 64-64.
The ensuing possession saw the Mavericks commit a turnover which led to a foul on the other end and gave Daemen the lead, 66-64, with 37 seconds left. Mercy would have a couple of good looks on their next offensive sequence but couldn't capitalize and were forced to foul. Galus would go 4-for-4 from the charity stripe in the final 14 seconds to seal the win for the Wildcats as they ended the game on an 8-0 run.
Mercy shot 34.3 percent from the field compared to just 30.3 percent for the guests, but were outrebounded 55-43. Daemen also held the edge at the charity stripe going 18-for-20 while the Mavericks went only 10-for-13.
Head Coach Rashidi Aikens and the Mavericks return to action on Tuesday, January 20th as they travel to St. Thomas Aquinas for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
