DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (May 21, 2020) - For the sixth year in a row, Mercy College Athletics will recap the year by counting down the Top-10 most memorable moments of the 2019-20 season, with all 10 sports represented.
Mercy College Athletics will release a Top-10 moment, as chosen by the athletics staff, with a recap every Thursday for the next ten weeks, culminating with the top moment from the 2019-20 athletic year being unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 4 – Women's Basketball Doubles Win Total Over 2018-19 Season
Coming in at No. 4 in our 2019-20 Top-10 Moments is women's basketball who doubled their win total over the 2018-19 season.
The Mavericks earned four wins in Scott Lagas' first year at the helm in 2018-19 and Amber Brown was named Second Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met. Mercy was picked to finish seventh in the ECC Preseason Poll and opened up the season on November 9th at Pace. Brown had a team-high 16 points but the Mavericks ultimately fell to Pace. The next day Mercy played Adelphi at Pace and dropped the contest with three Mavericks scoring in double figures.
Mercy was back in action on November 14th when they played at Felician. Three Mavericks scored in double figures but it was not enough as the Golden Falcons earned a 76-71 win. Mercy returned to action that Saturday, November 16th and got their first win of the season with a 79-63 win at Holy Family. Brown posted a game-high 28 points and 10 rebounds in the win to move the Mavericks to 1-3 on the year. After the week was over, freshman Katie Wall was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the first time and Brown was tabbed to the Honor Roll.
Lagas led the Mavericks into their home opener on November 20th against Wilmington. Mercy came away with an 83-79 victory over the Wildcats to secure their first two-game winning streak since February of 2018. The 83 points were the most scored by Mercy since an 83-56 win over New Rochelle on February 14, 2018. Mercy extended their win streak to three games and improved to .500 (3-3) with a 70-52 win over Nyack on November 23rd. The three-game winning streak was the program's first since 2014-15. Following the end of the week, Brown was named to the ECC Honor Roll for the second time.
Mercy concluded the month of November with an exciting 96-89 double-overtime win at Caldwell on November 26th to move to 4-3 on the year. The four-game winning streak was the first since the 1997-98 season and the Mavericks were off to their best start since 2014-15 Mercy also matched their win total from all of last year after just seven games. Brown led the way with a game-high 30 points with 10 rebounds. Senior Abigail Collier had a career-high 24 points and 15 rebounds and Wall had a career-high 21 points going 14-of-14 from the foul line. Wall also added eight rebounds and seven assists in the victory. Following the victory, Wall was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the second time and Brown and Collier were tabbed to the Honor Roll.
The Mavericks returned to the Victory Hall Sports Center on December 4th where they faced Post. Wall scored the final seven points of the game in the final seconds to lead Mercy to a 72-69 win over the Eagles. Mercy improved to 5-3 on the year and won five games in a row for the first time since 1988. Post would go on to win 22 games and win the North Division of the CACC. After the huge win, sophomore Taysha Bender and Wall were named to the ECC Honor Roll.
Lagas and the Mavericks resumed action on December 10th when they hosted Concordia. Brown netted her 1,000th career point at the 6:59 mark of the second quarter on a jumper, becoming the 19th Maverick in program history to reach the mark. Mercy went on to earn a 66-60 win, extending their win streak to six games and improving to 6-3 on the year. Wall had a team-high 17 points in the win and Mercy won six games in a row for the first time since 1985.
Mercy opened up ECC play on December 13th against Daemen. Wall had a team-high 14 points but it was not enough as the Wildcats earned the win. On December 15th, Brown had a game-high 15 points and 13 rebounds as women's basketball hosted Roberts Wesleyan in their CODA Awareness Game. After the three-game week, Wall was tabbed ECC Rookie of the Week for the third time.
The Mavericks resumed ECC play on December 21st when they hosted No. 21 St. Thomas Aquinas. Wall and Brown scored in double figures but the Spartans came away with the win, dropping Mercy to 6-6 overall and 0-3 in ECC play. After the game, Wall was named to the ECC Honor Roll again.
Brown scored a team-high 15 points on January 2nd as Mercy hosted No. 4/6 Saint Anselm in their first game of 2020. The Mavericks then headed to Assumption on January 5th where they battled the Greyhounds before falling 72-59 to drop to 6-8 on the year.
Mercy stepped back into ECC play on January 8th when they played at New York Tech. Wall had a team-high 14 points but the Bears came away with a 77-63 win. The Mavericks dropped games against District of Columbia (Jan. 11), Queens (Jan. 15) and Molloy (Jan. 18) to sit at 6-12 overall and 0-6 in ECC play entering their home game against Bridgeport.
Despite being on a nine-game losing streak, the Mavericks came out and earned a 71-68 win over the Purple Knights to pick up their first ECC win of the year. Mercy earned their first home win over Bridgeport since January 15, 2011 and the Mavericks sat just one game behind the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot. Bender had a season-high-tying 19 points in the win and Wall added 16 points. After the win, Collier was named to the ECC Honor Roll.
Mercy fell to RV St. Thomas Aquinas (Feb. 1), District of Columbia (Feb. 5), New York Tech (Feb. 8), Roberts Wesleyan (Feb. 14) and Daemen (Feb. 16). The Mavericks hosted Molloy for their Play4Kay Game on February 19th and Collier had 22 points and 11 rebounds, but Mercy fell 71-55 to the Lions.
The Mavericks sat at 7-18 overall and 1-13 in ECC play entering their Senior Day game against Queens. Mercy celebrated seniors Holly Sanders, Destinee Hall and Collier in a ceremony prior to the game and snapped a six-game losing streak with a 62-57 win over the Knights on February 22nd. Hall had a game-high 17 points in the win and Brown netted 14 points and nine rebounds. The win doubled their win total over last season and the Mavericks earned their first home win over Queens since February 7, 2015. Mercy also finished with their most home wins (6) since 2008-09 when they won seven. After the Senior Day win, Wall was named ECC Rookie of the Week for the final time.
Mercy concluded their season on February 29th at Bridgeport. The Mavericks led throughout before falling 76-62 in their season finale. Freshman Kellie Nudd had a career-high 17 points and would be named to the ECC Honor Roll for the performance. Mercy ended the season 8-19 overall and 2-14 in ECC play. The Mavericks won eight or more games in a season for just the fourth time since 2000-01. Mercy ended the year just two games out of the sixth and final ECC Tournament spot.
Wall was named ECC Rookie of the Week four times during the season and was tabbed to the ECC Honor Roll twice after averaging a team-high 12.0 points and 2.9 assists per game. She also had a team-high 30 steals and 49 made three-pointers and was named the department's Female Freshman of the Year. Lagas was named the department's Staff Member of the Year and Collier took home the team's Maverick Award.
The future looks bright for the Mavericks with Wall and several other contributors returning for next year along with a strong recruiting class. Mercy will look to compete again for an ECC Tournament, searching for their first appearance since 2008-09.
Schedule for the Top-10 Moments of the 2019-20 Season
Every Thursday for the next ten weeks, the Mercy College Athletics Department will release the Top-10 moments one at a time beginning with the No. 10 moment on Thursday, April 9th. The No. 1 moment will be unveiled on Thursday, June 11th.
No. 1 – June 11th
No. 2 – June 4th
No. 3 – May 28th
No. 4 – May 21st
No. 5 – Bryan Griffin Sets Multiple School Records Throughout Season
No. 6 – Field Hockey Defeats 2018 Final Four Participant Pace
No. 7 – Men's Lacrosse Defeats No. 7 Pace
No. 8 – Women's Lacrosse Defeats No. 18 Bentley in Final Seconds on the Road
No. 9 – Softball Gets Off to Best Four-Game Start Since 2017
No. 10 – John Mooradian, Miguel Ortiz Sanchez and Anthony Murphy Reach Career Milestones and Move up in Baseball Record Book
