STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (Jan. 12, 2022) – Powered by a game-high 23 points from junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team overcame a 19-point second-half deficit to earn a 67-63 victory over ECC foe College of Staten Island on Wednesday night. The Mavericks improve to 5-0 in ECC play for the first time in program history.
The Mavericks (7-6, 5-0 ECC) have won four straight games and are off to their best 13-game start since 2015. Mercy now has their most ECC wins in a season since the 2008-09 season. The 19-point deficit overcome is the largest comeback victory for the Mavericks since they overcame a 23-point deficit on February 4, 2012 against New York Tech. The Dolphins (3-9, 1-4 ECC) fall in their first matchup against Mercy.
Wall had the go-ahead three with 24 seconds left to complete the comeback and went 9-of-17 from the floor with four assists. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had a double-double by way of 19 points and 11 rebounds and senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) had nine points.
Staten Island was led by Jenalyse Alarcon who had a team-high 17 points.
The Dolphins jumped out to a 12-5 lead with 4:36 left in the first quarter. Mercy later cut the deficit to four, 13-9, following a Bender free throw with 29 seconds on the clock. An Alarcon layup gave Staten Island a 15-9 lead after one quarter of play.
Staten Island opened the second quarter on a 10-0 run to increase the lead to 16, 25-9, with 4:24 left in the opening half. A Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) jumper ended the run at the 2:46 mark, but the Dolphins ensued with a 4-1 run to take their largest lead of the half, 29-12, with two minutes left. The Mavericks came back on a 5-1 run to make it a 13-point game, but an Alarcon free throw gave Staten Island a 31-17 lead at halftime.
Mercy cut the deficit to 12, 41-29, with 3:30 left in the third quarter after a Bender three. The Dolphins answered back on a 7-0 run to take their largest lead of the game, 48-29, with 2:20 on the clock. The Mavericks ended the third quarter on a 10-0 run, capped off by a Wall three, to cut the deficit to single digits, 48-39, at the end of the third quarter.
The Mavericks scored the first three points of the fourth quarter to make it 48-42. A three from Ashley Lambert increased the lead back to nine, 51-42, for the hosts. Mercy stormed back on an 8-0 run, finished off by a Wall layup, to get within one, 51-50, at the 6:40 mark. The Dolphins rallied with six straight points to take a 57-50 lead with 5:33 remaining.
Mercy did not quit and went on a 9-1 run, finished off by a pair of Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) free throws, to take their first lead of the game, 59-58, with 2:19 left. Lambert answered with a three on the next Dolphin possession to give Staten Island a 61-59 lead. Wall tied the game at 61-61 with 1:08 left following a layup. Alarcon gave the hosts a 63-61 lead following a layup with 42 seconds left. After a Mercy timeout, Bender missed a three, but Tedesco got the offensive rebound and found Wall on the left wing, who drained the three to give Mercy a 64-63 lead with 24 seconds left. Ashley Lambert's go-ahead three point attempt for the Dolphins did not connect and Mercy got the ensuing rebound. Wall went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Mavericks a 65-63 lead with 10 seconds left. Lambert missed another go-ahead three attempt and Mercy got the rebound. Nudd was fouled and went 2-of-2 from the line to give Mercy a 67-63 lead with one second left. The Mavericks defense produced another stop and Mercy earned the come-from-behind victory after leading for just over a minute the entire game.
Mercy shot 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the floor, 36.4 percent (8-of-22) from downtown and 56.5 percent (13-of-23) from the foul line. Staten Island shot 32.4 percent (22-of-68) from the field, 35.7 percent (10-of-28) from beyond the arc and 42.9 percent (9-of-21) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 48-45 edge in rebounds.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, January 15th when they host UDC at 12 p.m.
