SPARKILL, N.Y. (Nov. 13, 2021) – Despite three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 66-53 decision to 2021 NCAA Tournament participant American International College on Saturday afternoon at Aquinas Hall Gym.
The Mavericks (0-2) have dropped two straight to open the season, while the Yellow Jackets (2-0) open their season with two straight wins.
Junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) had a team-high 14 points with three assists. Senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had 13 points with five rebounds and junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had 13 points, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) added five points and five rebounds.
AIC was led by Kyla Smith who had a game-high 17 points.
The Yellow Jackets opened the game on a 5-0 run. However, the Mavericks answered with a 14-0 run, capped off by a Wall three, to take a 14-5 lead with 3:31 left in the first quarter. A Bender three at the 1:46 mark gave Mercy their largest lead of the game, 21-7. AIC concluded the quarter on an 8-3 run to cut the Maverick lead to nine, 24-15, after one quarter of play.
AIC began the second quarter on a 20-4 run to take a 35-28 lead with 1:13 left in the half. A Bender jumper got the Mavericks to within five, 35-30, at halftime.
The Yellow Jackets started the third quarter on a 7-2 run to increase the lead to 10, 42-32, with 8:16 left in the third quarter. A Wall three and Talib jumper got Mercy back to within five, 42-37, with 5:18 on the clock. AIC ended the quarter on a 6-3 spurt to head into the fourth quarter up, 48-40.
AIC went on a 7-1 run to open the fourth quarter, building their lead to 14, 55-41, with 4:36 left. Mercy followed with six straight points to cut the deficit to single digits, 55-47, with three minutes remaining. However, the Yellow Jackets ended the game on an 11-6 run to come away with the win.
Mercy shot 28.4 percent (19-of-67) from the floor, 25.9 percent (7-of-27) from downtown and 57.1 percent (8-of-14) from the foul line. AIC shot 45.0 percent (27-of-60) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 80.0 percent (8-of-10) from the charity stripe. AIC held a 45-38 edge in rebounds and Mercy held a 13-6 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, November 17th when they host Felician at 5 p.m.
