LAKEWOOD, N.J. (Nov. 20, 2018) – Powered by a game-high 26 points from sophomore Amber Brown (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) and nine different Mavericks scoring, the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 76-59 victory over Georgian Court University on Tuesday night.
The Mavericks (2-2) start 2-2 for the second straight year and defeat the Lions (0-5) for the first time since 2014-15.
Brown reached a new season high in points on 11-of-17 shooting and added seven rebounds. Junior Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y./Keystone College) recorded 13 points, five rebounds and five steals. Freshman Alexis Lake (Lakeview, N.Y./Malverne) produced six points and a team-high 12 rebounds. Freshman Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) poured in seven points with five rebounds and sophomore Anna Zaborowska (Copiague, N.Y./Copiague) and senior Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) scored six points each.
Georgian Court was led by Destiny Thompson who had a team-high 14 points.
The Lions scored the first points of the game and held a 6-5 lead with eight minutes left in the first quarter. Mercy countered with a 6-0 run, capped off by a Hall three-pointer, that gave the Mavericks an 11-6 lead with 4:10 remaining in the opening frame. Georgian Court trimmed the Mercy lead to two, 13-11, with just over two minutes left, but the Mavericks responded with a 5-0 run to build an 18-11 lead and headed into the second quarter up, 18-13.
The hosts opened up the second quarter on a 7-2 run to tie the game up at 20-20 with 6:51 left in the first half. The Mavericks quickly followed with a 10-3 run, concluded by a Brown layup, that put Mercy up 30-23 with 4:32 on the clock. The Mavericks headed into halftime with a 32-25 lead with Brown recording 12 points in the half.
Georgian Court started the third quarter by cutting the Mercy lead to five, 33-28, with 6:50 remaining in the period. The Mavericks then went on an 18-5 run to build a 51-33 advantage with 1:44 left in the quarter. Mercy would head into the fourth quarter with a 16-point lead, 53-37, after outscoring the Lions 21-12 in the quarter.
Junior Holly Sanders (Chicago, Ill./Simeon Career Academy) opened the final quarter with a three-point play to increase the Mercy lead to 19, 56-37, just 17 seconds into the period. The hosts made it 56-43 with 8:17 remaining, but the Mavericks answered back with a 13-6, topped off by a Perez trifecta, that put Mercy ahead by 20, 69-49, with four minutes left. Georgian Court could not get any closer than 14 points and the Mavericks held on for the 17-point victory.
Mercy shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the floor, 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc and 77.4 percent (24-of-31) from the foul line. Georgian Court shot 33.3 percent (24-of-72) from the field, 18.8 percent (3-of-16) from downtown and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 47-46 edge on the boards and the Mavericks forced 28 Georgian Court turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, November 25th when they play at Saint Anselm at 3 p.m.
