WASHINGTON, D.C. (Feb. 5, 2020) – Despite a team-high 14 points from senior Destinee Hall (Spring Valley, N.Y./Keystone College) and sophomore Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 66-53 decision to ECC foe University of the District of Columbia on Wednesday night.

The Mavericks (7-14, 1-9 ECC) have dropped two games in a row, while the Firebirds (7-14, 3-6 ECC) have won two games in a row.

Hall recorded a double-double with 14 points, ten rebounds and four assists. Bender had 14 points on 4-for-8 shooting and senior Abigail Collier (Watertown, Conn./Watertown) had eight points and six rebounds. Freshman Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) added five points, six rebounds and four assists.

UDC was led by Latavia Jackson who had a game-high 26 points.

Mercy took a 6-4 lead at the 3:17 mark after an Amber Brown (South Brunswick, N.J./South Brunswick) free throw. The hosts followed with a 4-0 run to take an 8-6 lead before the Mavericks rattled off three straight points to take the lead back at 9-8 with 1:08 left in the first quarter. A Hunter Rowson layup with nine seconds left gave the Firebirds a 10-9 lead after one quarter.

UDC opened the second quarter on a 15-2 run to increase the lead to 14, 25-11, with 2:50 remaining in the half. The Mavericks closed out the half with eight straight points, capped off by a Wall layup, to head into halftime down just six, 25-19.

A Collier jumper to open the third quarter made it a four-point game, 25-21. The Firebirds followed with four unanswered points to increase the lead back to eight, 29-21, at the 8:31 mark. The Mavericks continued to battle and once again cut the deficit to four, 33-29, after a Patrice Harding (Sayreville, N.J./LIU Post) three with 5:07 on the clock. UDC tallied three straight points to put the lead back to seven and held a 42-34 lead after the third quarter.

The Mavericks started the fourth quarter with four consecutive points to cut the deficit to four, 42-38, after a Bender layup with 8:18 remaining. UDC responded with an 11-1 run to increase the lead to 14, 53-39, with 4:59 left. Mercy cut the UDC lead to 11 twice but could not get any closer, giving the Firebirds the victory.

Mercy shot 37.8 percent (17-for-45) from the floor, 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from downtown and 58.3 percent (14-for-24) from the foul line. UDC shot 35.5 percent (22-for-62) from the field, 26.7 percent (4-for-15) from beyond the arc and 66.7 percent (18-for-27) from the charity stripe. UDC held a 40-39 edge in rebounds and used 26 Mercy turnovers to hold a 21-6 edge in points off turnovers.

Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 8th when they host New York Tech at 12 p.m.