DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 24, 2021) – Powered by a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds from sophomore Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned their first victory over ECC foe St. Thomas Aquinas College since 2009 with a 79-70 win on Wednesday night at the Victory Hall Sports Center.
The Mavericks (1-5, 1-5 ECC) pick up their first win of the season and defeat the Spartans (4-6, 4-3 ECC) for the first time since January 14, 2009. The win snaps a 26-game losing streak to the Spartans who won the ECC Co-Regular Season Championship last season after going 21-7. The 79 points scored by Mercy was a season high and it is the most points surrendered by St. Thomas Aquinas this season. The Spartans entered the game ranked No. 9 nationally in scoring defense allowing just 53.3 points per game.
Nudd went 7-for-14 from the floor and 4-for-7 from downtown with two blocks. She surpasses her previous career high of 17 points set at Bridgeport last season. Sophomore Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) finished with 14 points and four assists and freshman Jamie Waldron (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) netted a career-high 13 points on 6-for-8 shooting in 14 minutes off the bench with three blocks. Sophomore Briana Barnard (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) had nine points and five rebounds and sophomore Jamiela Moore (Baldwin, N.Y./Labette CC) netted six points.
St. Thomas Aquinas was led by Alexa Huertas who had a game-high 25 points.
Mercy led from start-to-finish, jumping out to a 10-0 lead at the 7:01 mark following a Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) layup. The Spartans answered with four straight points, but the Mavericks ensued with a 9-2 run to increase their lead to 13, 19-6, with 2:17 left in the opening quarter. Mercy would head into the second quarter with a 24-11 lead following a Waldron layup.
The Spartans opened the second quarter by cutting the deficit to nine, 28-19, with 7:56 left before halftime. A Wall three increased the lead back to 12 before the visitors came back on a 7-3 spurt to make it 34-26 in favor of Mercy with 5:40 on the clock. A three and layup from Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) put the lead back to 13, 39-26, with 1:52 remaining and a last second three by Barnard gave Mercy a 42-28 lead at halftime.
Mercy opened the third quarter on a 5-2 run, capped off by a Nudd three, which put the Mavericks up 17, 47-30, with 8:18 left in the quarter. The Spartans later cut the deficit to 10, 51-41, before Mercy closed out the quarter on a 10-3 run to head into the fourth quarter up, 61-44.
A Moore trifecta at the 8:49 mark of the fourth quarter gave Mercy their largest lead of the game, 66-46. The Spartans trimmed the lead to eight, 75-67, with 37 seconds left but Wall and Nudd combined for four free throws in the final 35 seconds to give Mercy the win.
Mercy shot a season-high 45.2 percent (28-for-62) from the floor, 36.4 percent (8-for-22) from downtown and 71.4 percent (15-for-21) from the foul line. St. Thomas Aquinas shot 39.4 percent (28-for-71) from the field, 27.8 percent (5-for-18) from beyond the arc and 52.9 percent (9-for-17) from the charity stripe. The Spartans held a 44-38 edge on the glass. Mercy also had a season-high eight blocks in the game.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action tomorrow when they host St. Thomas Aquinas at 5 p.m.
