DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 26, 2019) – Despite a team-high 19 points and eight rebounds from sophomore Amber Brown (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a, 69-58, decision to ECC foe LIU Post on Saturday afternoon at the Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (3-16, 0-9 ECC) remain winless in ECC play, while the Pioneers (13-6, 6-3 ECC) have won two games in a row.
Brown went 7-of-19 from the floor and freshman Brianne Santos (Elmont, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) netted a career-high 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting. Junior Holly Sanders (Chicago, Ill./Simeon Career Academy) added eight points and six rebounds and junior Abigail Collier (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) recorded six points and four rebounds.
LIU Post was led by Shannon Doyle who had a game-high 20 points.
Mercy scored the first three points of the contest on a Cynthia Perez (Middle Village, N.Y./Christ the King) three and built a seven-point lead, 12-5, with 3:19 remaining in the first quarter. The Pioneers answered back with a 10-2 run to take a 15-14 lead, but a Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y./Keystone College) jumper late in the quarter gave Mercy a 16-15 lead after one quarter of play.
LIU Post opened the second quarter on a 12-2 run to build a nine-point lead, 27-18, with 5:13 remaining in the half. After a Mercy timeout, the Mavericks ensued with a 10-1 run, finished off by two Collier free throws, that tied the score up at 28-28 with 1:14 on the clock. The Pioneers ended the half with four straight points to take a 32-28 lead at halftime.
The visitors scored the first two points of the third quarter to take a six-point lead and they held a 38-32 lead with 8:09 remaining in the quarter. A Brown layup made it a four-point game, but the Pioneers came back on a 6-0 run to increase the lead to 10, 44-34, at the 4:39 mark. Mercy continued to battle and made it a three-point game, 44-41, after a Santos free throw. The Mavericks headed into the fourth quarter down just four, 46-42, after holding LIU Post to just 21.4 percent shooting in the period.
The Pioneers started the fourth quarter by putting the lead to nine, 59-50, with 4:04 remaining. Mercy came back with four unanswered points to get within five, 59-54, with 1:15 left to play. LIU Post followed with a 10-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 69-56, with 16 seconds remaining and came away with the win.
Mercy shot 28.8 percent (19-of-66) from the floor, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from downtown and 66.7 percent (14-of-21) from the foul line. LIU Post shot 32.3 percent (21-of-65) from the field, 13.0 percent (3-of-23) from beyond the arc and 68.6 percent (24-of-35) from the charity stripe. The Pioneers held a 55-41 edge on the boards and a 31-17 edge in bench points.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 30th when they play at St. Thomas Aquinas at 5:30 p.m.
