Three Score in Double Figures as Women's Basketball Plays at NYIT
Box Score OLD WESTBURY, N.Y. (Dec. 19, 2015) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 75-55 decision to East Coast Conference foe NYIT on Saturday afternoon at Recreation Hall.
The Mavericks (2-8, 0-4 ECC) remain winless in ECC play and have lost three in a row, while the Bears (9-5, 4-0 ECC) have won four in a row and remain perfect in league play.
Leading Mercy was senior Erin Copeland (Kansas City, Kan./Univ. of Illinois-Springfield) who had a game-high 19 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor and added five rebounds and four assists. Fellow senior Deasia Goodson (Freeport, N.Y./SUNYIT) recorded her seventh double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 rebounds, adding three blocks in the process. Rounding out the trio scoring in double figures was freshman Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) who scored 13 points, aided by going 6-of-7 from the charity stripe.
NYIT was paced by Shannon Duer who had 15 points and a game-high 23 rebounds. Shanice Allen chipped in a team-high 17 points.
The Mavericks, looking for their first conference win of the season against the first-place Bears, hung tough early with the home team. Mercy only trailed by one, 11-10, following a Casey Sullivan (East Lyme, Conn./Saint Bernard) trifecta with 4:10 left in the first quarter. However, that would be the closest they got for the remainder of the contest as NYIT responded with a 9-2 run to close the period to lead 20-12 after one period of play.
The Bears took control of the contest in the second quarter as they opened up the frame on a 6-0 run to take a 26-12 lead with seven minutes remaining in the half. NYIT built the lead up to 22, 40-18, after a Duer layup with 51 seconds left before a Paxton Reddington (Holmdel, N.J./Brookdale CC) layup cut the deficit to 20, 40-20, heading into halftime.
The home team jumped out of the gates in the second half on a 7-0 run to take a 27-point lead, 47-20, and would cruise the rest of the way to the victory.
Mercy shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the floor compared to 36.4 percent (28-of-77) for NYIT. The Bears had 24 more field goal attempts due to a 26-5 edge on the offensive glass which turned into an overall 57-30 edge on the boards for NYIT. The Bears also took advantage of 18 Mavericks turnovers, maintaining a 33-11 advantage in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Rashidi Aikens and the Mavericks resume play on Monday, January 4th with a matchup at Nyack College at 5:30 p.m.
