Keane-Dawes Scores Game-High 15 Points as Women's Basketball Earns 66-50 Victory Over ECC Foe UDC
Box Score VALHALLA, N.Y. (Jan. 14, 2017) – Powered by a game-high 15 points and eight rebounds from junior Monet Keane-Dawes (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 66-50 victory over the University of the District of Columbia in ECC action on Saturday afternoon at Westchester Community College.
The Mavericks (3-13, 1-7 ECC) have won two of their last three games and pick up their first ECC win of the season, while the Firebirds (2-16, 1-7 ECC) have dropped ten games in a row. Mercy improves to 2-9 all-time against UDC with the last win coming on January 11, 1986. The Mavericks also snap a 17-game conference losing streak with the victory and improve to 3-3 at Westchester Community College this season.
Keane-Dawes went 5-of-7 from the floor, while sophomore Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y./Keystone College) also scored in double figures with 13 points and six rebounds. Freshman Caralie Wilson (Gold Coast, Australia/John Paul College) rounded out three Mavericks scoring in double figures with 12 points and five rebounds. Junior Latisha Clark (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) added nine points and seven rebounds and sophomore Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) contributed eight points. Sophomore Chi-la Bady (Valley Stream, N.Y./Francis Lewis) finished the afternoon with seven points and a game-high eight assists.
The Firebirds were led by Bianca White who had a team-high 14 points and eight rebounds.
Mercy wasted little time in getting off to a good start as Keane-Dawes drained a triple just 13 seconds in to make it 3-0. The visitors followed with five unanswered to take a 5-3 advantage at the 7:41 mark of the first quarter. Perez and Bady drained back-to-back threes to give the Mavericks a 9-5 lead midway through the quarter. UDC ended the period on a 10-5 run to own a 15-14 advantage after one quarter of play.
The 15-14 lead at the end of the quarter would be the last lead of the game for the Firebirds, as Mercy began the second quarter with a 13-0 run to retake the lead at 27-15 with 7:18 left before halftime. UDC got within eight on two separate occasions, but the Mavericks headed into halftime with a ten-point lead, 38-28.
Mercy broke open the game in the third quarter, beginning the half on an 11-3 run to take a 49-31 lead with 5:17 left in the quarter. The Mavericks outscored the Firebirds 18-7 in the period to take a 56-35 lead going to the final quarter.
Mercy began the final stanza on a 5-2 run that gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the day, 61-37, after a Perez trifecta with 7:17 remaining. Mercy held a double-digit lead the rest of the way in securing their first ECC win under first-year Head Coach Jim Harter.
The Mavericks shot 38.3 percent (23-of-60) from the floor, 33.3 percent (9-of-27) from beyond the arc and 78.6 percent (11-of-14) from the charity stripe. The Firebirds shot 33.9 percent (19-of-56) from the field, 23.3 percent (7-of-30) from long distance and 50.0 percent (5-of-10) from the foul line. UDC held a 39-37 edge on the glass and Mercy maintained a 14-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Harter and the Mavericks look to make it two wins in a row when they play at NYIT on Wednesday, January 18th at 5 p.m.
