DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 8, 2018) – The Mercy College women's basketball team opens up their 2018-19 season on Friday, November 9th when they take on Saint Michael's College at St. Thomas Aquinas College. The Mavericks look to play their way into ECC Tournament contention with six returners from the 2017-18 squad and four newcomers.
The Mavericks are looking to build off a season in which they won eight games last year and will look to do so under first-year Head Coach Scott Lagas. Lagas joins Mercy from Archbishop Molloy High School in Queens and has brought in a solid four-member recruiting class this year.
"The girls are working real hard to build a positive team culture. We will focus on doing our best every day to build a team our school can have pride in and be proud of. Making our first conference playoff in 10 years is our end goal!" stated Lagas.
Lagas will look to sophomore Amber Brown to build off a successful freshman campaign. The forward averaged a team-high 13.3 points along with 6.2 rebounds per game in 26 starts. Brown was also a threat from downtown with 23 made threes and was second on the team with 27 steals.
Also returning for Lagas is the lone senior on the team, Cynthia Perez, who averaged 6.1 points per game as a junior. The senior appeared in all 28 games a year ago and made 22 trifectas. Junior Abigail Collier also returns to Dobbs Ferry after posting 5.8 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in 19.3 minutes per game. Collier led the team in blocks a year ago and will look to improve upon her numbers in 2018-19.
Junior Destinee Hall comes back for a second season as a Maverick after sitting out last season. Hall appeared in 20 games during the 2016-17 season and was second on the team with 9.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game. Junior Holly Sanders and sophomore Anna Zaborowska round out the returners for Lagas from a year ago. Sanders put up 2.4 points per game and led the team with 45 assists in 26 games. Zaborowska appeared in 24 games as a freshman, averaging 5.0 points per game with 26 steals.
Joining the team ahead of the 2018-19 season are freshmen Taysha Bender, Alexis Lake, Ashley Lambert and Brianne Santos. Bender was a four-year member of the varsity team at Archbishop Spalding High School. She was team captain for two years and averaged 14 points, three assists, three rebounds and two steals. Lake was a five-year starting forward/center at Malverne High School and recorded over 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds. During her senior season she averaged 16.6 points, 16.1 rebounds, 3.4 blocks and 2.1 steals per game. Lake was an All-Nassau County Player in 2018 and Team MVP during her senior season.
Lambert was named to the Honor Roll all four years at Tottenville High School and was named the best free throw shooter in the city three times. She scored 1,346 points in her career and was a PSAL Semifinalist. Santos played for the Mayor's Cup at Nazareth Regional and averaged five points, five rebounds and two assists per game.
With the mix of returners and a solid group of newcomers, Lagas and the Mavericks will look to compete for their first ECC Tournament spot since 2008-09.
