Four Mavericks Reach Double Figures in Points as Women's Basketball Hosts Daemen
Box Score VALHALLA, N.Y. (Jan. 28, 2017) – Despite four Mavericks scoring in double digits, the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 64-59 decision to Daemen College on Saturday afternoon at Westchester Community College.
The Mavericks (3-17, 1-11 ECC) drop the season series to the Wildcats (9-11, 6-6 ECC), who improve to .500 in ECC play with the win.
Mercy was led by junior Latisha Clark (Peekskill, N.Y. / Peekskill) who finished the afternoon with 15 total points, seven rebounds, and two assists. Sophomore Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y. / Keystone College) recorded her third double-double of the season with 10 total points, 10 rebounds, two assists and one steal. Sophomore Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y. / Christ the King) and junior Monet Keane-Dawes (Brooklyn, N.Y. / Midwood) rounded out the double digits with 12 points apiece. Perez shot an impressive 4-of-6 from downtown while also adding two rebounds, one assist and one steal. Keane-Dawes grabbed six rebounds while also dishing out four assists and recording three steals.
For the Wildcats, Leah McDonell recorded a game-high 18 points while also grabbing ten rebounds, recording a game-high five steals, and dishing out four assists. Sydney Jones also scored in double figures for the Wildcats with eleven points, two steals and one rebound.
The first quarter of the contest was a back-and-forth matchup for the Mavericks and Wildcats. The score was tied for a total of 6:41 of the ten-minute quarter. For the Mavericks, Hall led the offense with six points and four rebounds. The Wildcats were led by Sarah Saba who recorded six points and one rebound. The Mavericks entered the second quarter tied 12-12 with the Wildcats.
The Wildcats took off offensively in the second quarter, recording 17 points compared to the Mavericks nine. Keane-Dawes kept the Mavericks in the contest when she hit a successful three pointer at the 1:05 mark, followed by a steal and successful foul shot just 15 seconds later. A buzzer-beater three-pointer from Sydney Jones would put the Wildcats up 29-21 entering halftime.
The Wildcats were the first on the board in the third quarter when McDonell made a free throw to start it off. Keane-Dawes answered back with a three pointer to put the Mavericks back on the board after the intermission. The Wildcats were able to answer with 11 unanswered points, nine of those points coming from McDonell. This run put the Wildcats up 41-24 with 5:19 left to go in the quarter. Clark ended the Wildcat run when she was able to make a layup off of an assist from Keane-Dawes. The Mavericks entered the final quarter of the contest trailing 46-36.
Perez took the final quarter of the game into her own hands, hitting four shots from behind the arc to put the Mavericks back in the game. Back-to-back dishes from sophomore Chi-la Bady (Valley Stream, N.Y. / Francis Lewis) to Perez in the first minute of the quarter resulted in two successful three pointers to put Mercy on the board. Just a little over two minutes later, Perez would sink two more three pointers to give the Mavericks a 52-50 lead. The Mavericks were able to hold the lead for the following two minutes until McDonell hit a three pointer with 2:30 on the clock to put the Wildcats up 60-59. Despite the Mavericks outscoring the Wildcats 23-18 for the quarter, Mercy eventually fell to the Wildcats 64-59.
The Mavericks shot 36.1 percent (22-for-61) from the floor and 38.9 percent (7-for-18) from downtown. The Wildcats shot 38.1 percent (24-for-63) and 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from beyond the arc. The Mavericks went 8-for-10 from the charity stripe, while Daemen went 8-for-14. The Mavericks held a 22-19 advantage in points off of turnovers and a 30-24 advantage in the paint.
Head Coach Jim Harter and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, Feb. 4th when they play at Molloy College at 2 p.m.
