BLOOMFIELD, N.J. (Dec. 4, 2021) – Despite a team-high 20 points from junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 68-65 decision to Bloomfield College on Saturday afternoon.
The Mavericks (2-5) have dropped three games in a row, while the Bears (2-5) have won two of their last three games.
Wall added five rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) had 10 points and seven rebounds and senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had eight points and four rebounds. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had seven points, five rebounds and three assists and sophomore Asya Brandon (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) had a season-high seven points.
Bloomfield was led by Jaylah Bennett who had a game-high 21 points.
The Bears jumped out to a 9-1 lead with 6:58 left in the first quarter. Bloomfield later held a nine-point lead, 15-6, at the 2:14 mark before Mercy closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to head into the second quarter down, 15-11.
Junior Briana Barnard (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) opened the second quarter with a layup to get Mercy within two, 15-13. A Brianne Santos (Elmont, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) three at the 9:02 mark got the Mavericks to within one, 19-18. Wall later tied the game at 20-20 after a jumper with 7:30 left in the opening half. Wall gave Mercy a 26-24 lead with 3:57 remaining in the half after a layup. Bloomfield answered with an 8-0 run to retake the lead at 32-26 with 1:52 on the clock. The Mavericks ended the half on a 5-2 run, capped off by a Bender three, to head into halftime down just three, 34-31.
Bender opened the third quarter with a jumper to get Mercy within one, 34-33, with 8:08 left in the period. The Bears followed with an 11-1 run to increase the lead to a game-high 11 points, 45-34, with 4:17 left in the frame. After a Mercy timeout, the Mavericks scored the next five points to cut the deficit to six, 45-39, at the 2:52 mark. Mercy headed into the fourth quarter down, 50-44.
Bloomfield increased the lead back to eight, 52-44, before Mercy stormed back on a 7-0 run, capped off by a Nudd jumper, to make it 52-51 with 6:10 remaining. The Bears answered with a three to put the lead back to four before Tedesco drained a layup to get Mercy within two, 55-53, with five minutes left. The Bears recorded the next five points to build the lead back to seven, 60-53, with 3:21 left. Mercy continued to battle and a Wall three at the 1:41 mark cut Bloomfield's lead to just two, 61-59.
A Bennett three-point play with 53 seconds left gave the Bears a 64-59 lead. Following a Mercy timeout, Wall came down and drained a three to make it 64-62 with 45 seconds left. After a Mercy foul, Bennett went 2-of-2 from the line to give Bloomfield a 66-62 lead with 32 seconds on the clock. Bender answered with a layup on the other end to make it 66-64 with 24 seconds left. Each team would make a free throw to bring the score to 67-65 with nine seconds left to play. After another Mercy foul, DaShanique Ruffin went 1-of-2 from the line to give Bloomfield a 68-65 lead. Wall had a great look at the top of the key to tie the game but the shot rimmed in and out and the Bears got the rebound to secure the win.
Mercy shot 31.4 percent (22-of-70) from the floor, 22.2 percent (6-of-27) from downtown and 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the foul line. Bloomfield shot 40.3 percent (25-of-62) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 73.7 percent (14-of-19) from the charity stripe. Bloomfield held a 52-40 edge on the boards and Mercy used 23 Bloomfield turnovers to hold a 21-9 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, December 8th when they host St. Thomas Aquinas at 5 p.m.
