ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. (Mar. 2, 2021) – Despite a game-high 18 points from sophomore Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the No. 5 seed Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 62-47 decision to No. 4 seed Molloy College in the East Coast Conference (ECC) Women's Basketball Championship Play-in Game on Tuesday night at Quealy Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (1-8) see their season come to an end in their first ECC Tournament appearance since 2009. The Lions (4-4) win all three meetings between the two teams and advance to the Semifinals where they will face No. 1 seed Daemen on Thursday.
Wall went 7-for-16 from the floor and added four assists, four steals and three rebounds. Sophomore Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) netted six points and four rebounds with two blocks and three steals and junior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had five points and four rebounds. Freshman Jamie Waldron (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) recorded five points and a team-high six rebounds.
Molloy was led by Safiyyah Lee who had a team-high 17 points.
Bender scored the game's first points at the 8:34 mark of the first quarter before the hosts went on a 10-2 run to take a 10-4 lead with three minutes left in the first quarter. A Wall free throw and Jamiela Moore (Baldwin, N.Y./Labette CC) layup cut the Lions lead to 10-7 at the end of the opening quarter.
Mercy started the second quarter on an 8-0 run, capped off by a Waldron layup, which gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 15-10, with 6:42 left in the quarter. Mercy went on an 11-0 run from the 23-second mark of the first quarter to the 6:42 mark of the second quarter. The Mavericks defense also held Molloy without a point for nearly nine minutes going back to the Lions last basket in the first quarter at the 3:04 mark. The Lions finally broke the scoring drought with 4:06 left in the second quarter on a free throw, which would start a 10-0 run to close the half. Molloy held Mercy without a point for the final 6:42 of the second quarter to head into halftime with a 20-15 lead.
A Wall layup with 8:37 on the clock in the third quarter got the Mavericks to within three, 22-19. However, the hosts ensued with a 9-0 run to build their lead to 12, 31-19, with 4:38 left in the quarter. Mercy continued to battle and made it a seven-point game, 32-25, following a Wall free throw with 3:34 on the clock. Molloy would go on to close out the quarter on a 12-4 run to take a 44-29 lead after three quarters.
Molloy opened the fourth quarter by increasing the lead to a game-high 20 points, 56-36, with 4:55 remaining. The Mavericks would not go down quietly with a Moore layup at the 2:43 mark making it 58-45. The Lions followed with four straight points to put the lead back to 17, 62-45, with 1:43 on the clock and held on for the win.
Mercy shot 32.0 percent (16-for-50) from the floor, 20.0 percent (3-for-15) from downtown and 66.7 percent (12-for-18) from the foul line. Molloy shot 45.5 percent (20-for-44) from the field, 28.6 percent (4-for-14) from beyond the arc and 64.3 percent (18-for-28) from the charity stripe. Molloy held a 37-27 edge on the glass.
