WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 8, 2018) – Despite a combined 43 points from freshman Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) and sophomore Amber Brown (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped an 80-68 decision to ECC foe the University of the District of Columbia on Saturday afternoon.

The Mavericks (3-5, 0-2 ECC) have dropped two games in a row, while the Firebirds (3-5, 1-1 ECC) pick up their first ECC win of the year.

Bender had a game-high-tying 23 points along with eight rebounds and Brown added 20 points and five rebounds. Freshman Alexis Lake (Lakeview, N.Y./Malverne) recorded 11 points and senior Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) had five points.

UDC was led by Mia-Alexis Lloyd who had a game-high-tying 23 points.

The Firebirds took a 2-0 lead just 13 seconds in before Bender answered with a three to give Mercy a 3-2 lead 27 seconds into the contest. UDC followed with a 12-0 run to build a 14-3 lead with 5:18 remaining in the first quarter. The Mavericks came back with an 11-5 run, capped off by a Bender layup, which made it 19-14. However, a Natasha Roy three just before the end of the period gave the Firebirds a 22-14 lead after the first quarter.

UDC started the second quarter by increasing the lead to 10, 24-14, with 8:48 on the clock. Mercy responded with a 10-1 run, concluded by a three-point play from Brown, which got the Mavericks within one, 25-24, with 4:54 remaining in the half. The Firebirds followed with a 7-0 spurt to build a 32-24 lead and headed into halftime up, 38-31.

Mercy began the third quarter on a 6-0 run, finished off by a Brown three, which cut the UDC lead to one, 38-37, with 7:49 remaining in the period. The Firebirds put the lead back to seven, 44-37, after a 6-0 run, but the Mavericks did not back down and followed with a 6-0 run of their own to make it 44-43 with 3:50 left in the quarter. The Firebirds responded with a 12-4 run to take a nine-point lead, 56-47 and ended the quarter with a 58-50 lead.

The Firebirds put the lead to ten, 60-50, to start the fourth quarter, but a three-point play from Bender cut the deficit to seven, 60-53, with 8:17 remaining. UDC ensued with a 6-2 run that increased the lead back to 11, 66-55, with 6:34 left to play. The Firebirds were able to build the lead to 12, 69-57, with 3:56 on the clock. Mercy would cut the lead to six, 72-66, following a Brown layup, but UDC ended the game on an 8-2 run to secure the win.

Mercy shot 33.3 percent (21-of-63) from the floor, 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from downtown and 87.5 percent (21-of-24) from the foul line. UDC shot 38.1 percent (24-of-63) from the field, 36.8 percent (7-of-19) from beyond the arc and 69.4 percent (25-of-36) from the charity stripe.

Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, December 12th when they host Queens at 5 p.m.