DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Nov. 19, 2022) – Powered by a combined 37 points from graduate student Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) and senior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 59-44 win over Wilmington University on Saturday afternoon at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (2-2) start 2-2 for the second straight year and win their home opener for the second straight season. The Wildcats (0-4) remain winless on the year.
Bender had a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting with three steals and Wall scored 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting with a game-high five steals. Graduate student Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa./Concordia College) added five points and three assists and junior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) chipped in four points and four rebounds. Senior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) had a team-high seven rebounds with three points.
Wilmington was led by Amber Washington who had a team-high nine points and a game-high 17 rebounds.
The game was scoreless until the 6:52 mark of the first quarter when the Wildcats took a 2-0 lead after a Daja Claiborne jumper. Mercy stormed back on a 7-0 run, capped off by a layup from Bender, to take a 7-2 lead with 4:12 left in the quarter. The Mavericks later increased the lead to six, 10-4, with 2:29 left in the quarter. Wilmington cut the Mercy lead to five, 12-7, at the end of the first quarter.
Mercy increased the lead to seven, 21-14, with a Bender layup at the 3:08 mark of the second quarter. Washington drained a jumper to make it 21-16. The Mavericks ended the half on a 5-0 run, capped off by a Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) layup, to take a 26-16 lead at halftime.
Talib opened the scoring in the third quarter to build the Mavericks lead to 12, 28-16. Wilmington followed with a 9-3 run to cut the deficit to six, 31-25, with 5:55 remaining in the quarter. Back-to-back threes from Wall and freshman Angelina Barrera (Gloucester City, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) once again gave Mercy a 12-point lead, 37-25, with 4:45 remaining in the frame. Wilmington later got within eight, 40-32, with 1:57 left in the quarter. However, the Mavericks scored the next seven points to take a 47-32 lead with under a minute left in the quarter. A late Claiborne jumper cut the Mercy lead to 13, 47-34, after three quarters.
A Wall jumper at the 5:04 mark of the fourth quarter gave Mercy a 53-37 lead. The Wildcats scored the next five points to make it 53-42 with 3:40 left to play. Two baskets from Bender and another from Hopkins increased the Mavericks lead to a game-high 17 points, 59-42, with 2:20 to play. Wilmington answered with a basket at the 2:07 mark to make it 59-44, but it was not enough as Mercy came away with the win.
Mercy shot 36.7 percent (22-of-60) from the floor, 33.3 percent (8-of-24) from downtown and 70.0 percent (7-of-10) from the foul line. Wilmington shot 30.9 percent (17-of-55) from the field, 25.0 percent (4-of-16) from beyond the arc and 75.0 percent (6-of-8) from the charity stripe. Wilmington held a 41-35 edge on the glass and Mercy held a 23-10 edge in points off turnovers.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Tuesday, November 22nd when they play at Bridgeport at 5 p.m.
