DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 9, 2017) – The Mercy College women's basketball team opens up their 2017-18 season on Friday, November 10th when they take on Dominican College. The Mavericks look to play their way into ECC Tournament contention with eight returners from the 2016-17 squad and two newcomers.
2017-18 Schedule
"I am hoping we can build off on our late stretch at the end of last season," commented Head Coach Jim Harter. "Our goal is to be as competitive as we can be and if we compete like we did during the last seven games of last season we will win more games this season."
The Mavericks have changed to a new offense in 2017-18 and after being a decent three-point shooting team last season will look to have a more balanced offense this season. Harter looks to play all ten student-athletes on the roster throughout the season and is looking to build on the strong defense that took place at the end of last season. The Mavericks were decent in their man-to-man defense at the end of last season according to Harter and he expects the defense to be better this season.
Harter will look to a frontline that could be one of the better frontlines in the ECC. Leading the returners is senior Latisha Clark who averaged a team-high 10.8 points per game on a team-best 44.0 percent shooting from the field. The senior stepped up her play at the end of last season and Harter believe she can be one of the better post players in the ECC.
Also, contributing in the post will be senior Monet Keane-Dawes who produced 7.6 points per game and a team-best 6.6 rebounds per game in 23 starts. Keane-Dawes and freshman Amber Brown will provide versatility with the ability to get the ball to the basket and the ability to hit three pointers. Also, seeing time in the post will be senior Casey Sullivan who appeared in 16 games last season, averaging 4.1 points per game. Sophomore Abigail Collier will look to see time as well after a freshman campaign in which she averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds per game in 13 starts.
Junior Cynthia Perez, sophomore Caralie Wilson and freshman Anna Zaborowska could see time at the small forward position and at shooting guard. Wilson averaged 6.6 points per game as a freshman and hit a team-high 44 three-pointers. Perez was fourth on the team with 7.3 points per game and connected on 29 three-pointers last season. The trio plays solid on both ends and are good shooters who shoot the three aggressively, according to Harter.
Orchestrating the offense for the Mavericks will be junior Chi-la Bady and sophomore Holly Sanders. Both are hard-nosed players according to Harter and he hopes that they can have a good assist-to-turnover ratio with the experience they earned throughout their careers. Bady averaged 6.6 points per game in 2016-17 and had a team-best 92 assists, while Sanders put 3.4 points per game and dished out 47 assists.
Harter and the Mavericks open up their 2017-18 season on Friday, November 10th when they play Dominican College at St. Thomas Aquinas College at 7 p.m.
