DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 21, 2019) – Despite freshman Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and junior Amber Brown (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) scoring in double figures, the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 79-48 decision to ECC foe RV/No. 21 St. Thomas Aquinas College on Saturday afternoon at Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (6-6, 0-3 ECC) have dropped three games in a row, while the Spartans (10-2, 3-0 ECC) remain unbeaten in ECC play.
Wall had a team-high 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting with five assists and six rebounds. Brown recorded 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting with six rebounds. Senior Abigail Collier (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) netted eight points and senior Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y./Keystone College) poured in six points.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Melissa Sadler who had a game-high 19 points.
Mercy took an early 6-5 lead at the 6:49 mark of the first quarter after a Collier layup. The Spartans scored three straight points to take an 8-6 lead before a Brown layup tied the score up at 8-8 with 4:49 remaining in the period. St. Thomas Aquinas answered back on a 13-0 run to take a 21-8 lead with 2:15 on the clock. The Mavericks continued to battle and went on an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to five, 21-16. A Sadler jumper gave the Spartans a 23-16 lead after the first quarter.
St. Thomas Aquinas opened the second quarter by increasing the lead to eight, 30-22, at the 4:20 mark. Mercy rallied with a 6-0 run to cut the lead to two, 30-28, following a Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) layup with 2:53 remaining in the half. The Spartans ended the half on a 7-2 run to take a 37-30 lead into halftime.
Mercy cut the St. Thomas Aquinas lead to six, 41-35, following a Collier layup at the 7:35 mark of the third quarter. The Spartans then went on a 15-1 run to put the lead to 20, 56-36, with 1:29 remaining in the period. Mercy headed into the fourth quarter trailing the Spartans, 60-41.
St. Thomas Aquinas started the fourth quarter on a 7-0 run and outscored the Mavericks, 19-7, in the quarter to pull away for the win.
Mercy shot 41.9 percent (18-of-43) from the floor, 35.7 percent (5-of-14) from downtown and 58.3 percent (7-of-12) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 48.5 percent (33-of-68) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent (9-of-13) from the charity stripe. The Spartans held a 32-31 edge on the glass and used 33 Mercy turnovers to hold a 36-13 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Thursday, January 2nd when they host Saint Anselm at 3 p.m.
