DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 8, 2021) – Powered by three Mavericks scoring in double figures, the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 66-57 win over St. Thomas Aquinas College in their ECC opener on Wednesday night at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (3-5, 1-0 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak and win their ECC opener for the first time since 2009. Mercy has won two of the last three meetings with the Spartans (1-8, 0-1 ECC) after having not beaten them since 2009 prior to last year.
Junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) led the way for the Mavericks with a game-high 17 points with five rebounds. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) added 15 points on 4-of-7 shooting with five rebounds and senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had 15 points. Sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) netted nine points and had a game-high nine rebounds.
STAC was led by Sarah Ericson, Angelique Holguin and Erin Leary who all had a team-high 10 points.
The Spartans jumped out to a 7-5 lead with 6:49 left in the first quarter. Mercy answered with a 9-2 run, capped off by a Wall free throw, which gave the Mavericks a 14-9 lead with 3:32 left in the quarter. The Spartans later cut the Mercy lead to two, 15-13, before Bender drained a three to give Mercy an 18-13 lead. STAC scored the final two points of the quarter to head into the second quarter down, 18-15.
Mercy scored the first four points of the second quarter after back-to-back jumpers from Nudd and Bender to make it 22-15 with eight minutes left in the half. The Spartans ensued with a mini 7-0 run to tie the game at 22-22 at the 5:40 mark. The Mavericks closed the half on a 12-0 run, finished off by a pair of Wall free throws, to take a 34-22 lead at halftime.
The Mavericks started the second half with five straight points to take a 39-22 lead with eight minutes left in the third quarter. The Spartans rallied and cut the deficit to 12, 43-31, at the 5:31 mark. However, Mercy rattled off six straight points to increase the lead to a game-high 18 points, 49-31, with 3:17 on the clock. STAC rallied and cut the deficit to 13, 55-42, at the end of the third quarter.
Back-to-back layups from Wall and Briana Barnard (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) gave Mercy a 59-42 lead with 8:52 remaining. The Mavericks later built the lead back to 18, 64-46, after a Bender layup with 4:28 left to play. The Spartans went on an 11-0 run to cut the Mercy lead to seven, 64-57, with 30 seconds left. Nudd went 2-of-2 from the line on the Mercy possession to give the Mavericks a 66-57 lead they would not relinquish.
Mercy shot 34.5 percent (20-of-58) from the floor, 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from downtown and 59.5 percent (22-of-37) from the foul line. STAC shot 35.1 percent (20-of-57) from the field, 28.0 percent (7-of-25) from beyond the arc and 83.3 percent (10-of-12) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 44-38 edge on the glass and held a 23-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, December 11th when they play at Chestnut Hill at 1 p.m.
