BRIDGEPORT, Conn. (Dec. 19, 2021) – Powered by double-doubles from juniors Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) and Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) and 17 points from junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 67-62 win over ECC foe University of Bridgeport on Sunday afternoon at Hubbell Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (5-6, 3-0 ECC) have won two games in a row and start 3-0 in ECC play for the first time since the 1992-93 season. The Purple Knights (3-8, 0-4 ECC) have dropped five games in a row.
Talib had a career-high and team-high 18 points on 7-of-10 shooting with 11 rebounds against her former team. Wall had 15 points, a career-high 13 rebounds to go along with four assists and three steals. Nudd had 17 points and six rebounds and senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had five points, five rebounds and four assists. Sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) added five points and five rebounds.
Bridgeport was led by Janiece Loney who had a game-high 25 points.
The Purple Knights jumped out to an 8-5 lead with 5:03 left in the opening quarter. Bridgeport later held a 12-9 lead with just over three minutes on the clock. Mercy answered with a 4-0 run, capped off by a Nudd layup, to take a 13-12 lead. A Loney three gave Bridgeport a 15-13 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Bridgeport increased the lead to six points, 23-17, with 4:27 left in the half. The Mavericks closed the half on an 11-2 run, finished off by a Wall layup, to give Mercy a 28-25 lead at halftime.
Mercy started the third quarter on an 8-4 spurt, capped off by another Wall layup, to take their largest lead of the game, 36-29, with 7:16 left in the quarter. Bridgeport later cut the deficit to two, but back-to-back baskets from Talib gave Mercy a 42-36 lead with 4:57 remaining in the period. A Talib three-point play at the 2:37 mark once again gave the Mavericks a seven-point lead, 47-40. The Purple Knights ended the quarter on an 8-2 run to head into the fourth quarter down one, 49-48.
The Mavericks opened the fourth quarter on a 7-2 spurt following a Nudd layup to take a 56-50 lead with 6:38 remaining. Mercy later held a four-point lead, 60-56, following a Briana Barnard (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) layup with 3:28 left. Bridgeport scored the next four points to tie the game at 60-60 with 1:59 to play. After the teams traded empty possessions, Talib drew a foul after getting two offensive rebounds and went 2-of-2 from the line to give Mercy a 62-60 lead with 59 seconds left. Loney missed a three for Bridgeport on the next possession and Talib drained a jumper on the other end to give Mercy a 64-60 advantage with 16 seconds on the clock. Bridgeport went 2-of-2 from the line on their next possession to make it 64-62 with 11 seconds to play. Wall went 3-of-4 from the line in the final nine seconds and the Mavericks held Bridgeport without a point to secure the 67-62 win.
Mercy shot 39.1 percent (27-of-69) from the floor, 0 percent (0-of-8) from downtown and 52.0 percent (13-of-25) from the foul line. Bridgeport shot 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the field, 32.1 percent (9-of-28) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 53-40 edge on the glass and held a 15-2 edge in second chance points.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 5th when they host Queens at 5 p.m.
