DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Jan. 23, 2022) – Despite a team-high 15 points from senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 55-51 decision to ECC foe Daemen College on Sunday afternoon at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (10-7, 8-1 ECC) see their seven-game winning streak come to an end and drop their first ECC game of the year, while the Wildcats (9-3, 7-0 ECC) sit in first place in the ECC standings.
Bender had 15 points, six steals and four rebounds. Junior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) netted 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting with four rebounds and sophomore Jamie Waldron (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) had eight points. Sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) contributed seven points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Daemen was led by Tiara Filbert who had a game-high 18 points.
Mercy opened the game with an 8-0 lead after a pair of Talib free throws with 6:54 left in the opening quarter. A Talib jumper at the 4:08 mark gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 14-2. Daemen closed the quarter on an 8-2 run to head into the second quarter down, 16-10.
The Wildcats opened the second quarter on a 9-2 run to take a 19-18 lead with 6:03 left in the half. Mercy regained the lead on a Bender jumper, but Daemen scored nine straight points to take a 28-20 lead with 1:57 on the clock. A Waldron layup got the Mavericks to within six, 28-22, heading into halftime.
A Mickayla Ivy layup to open the third quarter gave Daemen a 30-22 lead. A Tedesco free throw at the 7:32 mark got Mercy to within three, 33-30. The Wildcats scored the next three points to take a 36-30 lead and later held a 38-32 edge with 4:26 left. Mercy rallied with six straight points, finished off by two Waldron free throws, to tie the game at 38-38 with 2:09 left in the quarter. Daemen ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to head into the fourth quarter with a 47-40 lead.
The Wildcats increased the lead to 10, 52-42, after a Katie Titus layup with 7:44 remaining. The Mavericks scored the next six points to cut the deficit to four, 52-48, with 3:21 left. A Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) three at the 1:06 mark later got Mercy to within three, 54-51. Ivy got fouled on the next Daemen possession after getting an offensive rebound with 12 seconds left. Ivy went 1-of-2 from the line to give the Wildcats a 55-51 lead they would not relinquish.
Mercy shot 31.5 percent (17-of-54) from the floor, 10.0 percent (2-of-20) from downtown and 93.8 percent (15-of-16) from the foul line. Daemen shot 35.2 percent (19-of-54) from the field, 16.7 percent (3-of-18) from beyond the arc and 70.0 percent (14-of-20) from the charity stripe. Daemen held a 46-28 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 26th when they play at Roberts Wesleyan at 6 p.m.
