Three Score in Double Figures as Women's Basketball Battles Molloy in ECC Matchup
Box Score ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Feb. 4, 2017) – Despite a double-double from junior Latisha Clark (Peekskill, N.Y./Peekskill) and 13 points from both freshmen Abigail Collier (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) and Caralie Wilson (Gold Coast, Australia/John Paul College), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought, 51-49, decision to ECC foe Molloy College on Saturday afternoon at Quealy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (3-18, 1-12 ECC) drop their fifth straight game, while the Lions (18-5, 10-3 ECC) remain in second place in the ECC standings with the narrow victory.
Clark posted a team-high 14 points and ten rebounds on 7-of-15 shooting, while Collier reached a career high in points and added eight rebounds. Wilson made four trifectas and added four rebounds. Sophomore Chi-la Bady (Valley Stream, N.Y./Francis Lewis) contributed a game-high eight assists.
Molloy was paced by Aliyah McDonald who posted a game-high 19 points, while Kamala Thompson netted 17 points.
Mercy faced a difficult task in taking on the second-place Lions, but were unfazed as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead after the first quarter in front of an energized home crowd. The Mavericks defense kept Molloy off-balanced with the hosts shooting just 8.3 percent in the opening period.
A Wilson three-pointer at the 5:00 mark of the second quarter gave Mercy their first double-digit lead of the game at 20-10. The Mavericks increased the lead to a game-high 13 points, 24-11, with 1:36 remaining in the half after a pair of free throws from Collier. Mercy headed into halftime with a 24-13 lead.
The Lions opened the second stanza with a pair of free throws to get within single digits, but another Wilson triple at the 7:57 mark made it a 13-point game, 30-17. Molloy slowly trimmed the deficit and after three quarters of play were down seven, 34-27.
A Thompson three-point play for Molloy at the 6:24 mark of the fourth quarter made it 38-33. However, Collier followed with a three less than a minute later to give Mercy an eight-point lead, 41-33. The Mavericks held a 44-36 lead with 4:24 remaining after a Wilson three, but the hosts ensued with a 12-4 run to tie the game up at 48-48 with 39 seconds left, capped off by McDonald making the first of her free throw attempts.
After McDonald missed her second foul shot, she recorded the rebound and drew a foul. McDonald drained both to give the Lions their first lead at 50-48 since early in the first half. After a Mercy timeout with 33 seconds left, the Mavericks had a look for three to take the lead but it rimmed out. However, Wilson corralled the rebound and was fouled, which led to her making 1-of-2 from the foul line and gave Molloy just a one-point lead, 50-49, with two seconds left.
After a Lion timeout, Jessica Kalbfleisch drew a foul and made one foul shot to increase the lead to two, 51-49, with under a second left. The Mavericks would run out of time in trying to pull off the upset at Molloy for the second straight year.
Mercy shot 33.9 percent (20-of-59) from the floor, 20.0 percent (6-of-30) from downtown and 33.3 percent (3-of-9) from the foul line. Molloy shot 26.1 percent (12-of-46) from the field, 10.5 percent (2-of-19) from beyond the arc and 61.0 percent (25-of-41) from the charity stripe. The Lions held a 43-39 edge on the boards, while Mercy held a 30-8 advantage in bench points.
Head Coach Jim Harter and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, February 8th when they play at LIU Post at 5 p.m.
