SPARKILL, N.Y. (Nov. 12, 2021) – Despite a game-high 24 points and six steals from junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team opened its 2021-22 season with an 86-79 loss to 2021 NCAA Tournament participant Dominican College on Friday night at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (0-1) have dropped two straight meetings to the Chargers (1-0).
Wall went 8-for-14 from the floor with five rebounds and five assists. Senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting and junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had 13 points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds. Junior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) had seven points and a team-high-tying seven rebounds.
Dominican was led by Taylor Tomlinson who had a team-high 20 points.
The score was tied at 5-5 before four points from Nudd and a three from Wall gave Mercy a 12-5 lead at the 6:47 mark of the first quarter. Dominican later got within, 12-10, but a Talib free throw and Nudd layup once again gave Mercy a five-point lead, 15-10, with 5:44 left in the period. The Mavericks later held a five-point lead, 22-17, after a pair of Talib free throws with 1:40 on the clock. Dominican closed the quarter with five straight points to head into the second quarter tied with Mercy at 22-22.
A Brianna Lee (Elmont, N.Y./Saint Mary's) layup to open the second quarter gave Mercy a 24-22 lead. Dominican later took a 28-26 lead after a Khay'la Latimer three with 7:19 left in the half. Back-to-back layups from Wall and Nudd put the Mavericks back in front, 30-28, with six minutes left before halftime. The Chargers closed the half on a 14-5 run to head into halftime up, 42-35.
The Chargers opened the second half with a basket to make it 44-35. A three from Wall at the 6:56 mark of the third quarter got Mercy to within three, 48-45. Dominican ensued with an 8-0 run to increase their lead to 11, 56-45, with five minutes on the clock. The Chargers later held a 61-50 lead before Mercy closed the quarter out on a 6-2 run to head into the fourth quarter down just seven, 63-56.
Dominican opened the fourth quarter on an 18-10 run to increase their lead to a game-high 15 points, 81-66, with 4:27 left to play. The Mavericks continued to play hard against the 2021 NCAA Tournament participants and ended the game on a 13-5 run to lose by just seven.
Mercy shot 49.1 percent (28-for-57) from the floor, 57.1 percent (8-for-14) from downtown and 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the foul line. Dominican shot 49.2 percent (32-for-65) from the field, 45.5 percent (5-for-11) from beyond the arc and 73.9 percent (17-for-23) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 34-31 edge in rebounds. The Chargers also held a 20-6 edge in fastbreak points and used 27 Mercy turnovers to hold a 30-19 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they face AIC at St. Thomas Aquinas at 1 p.m.
