DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 11, 2022) – Despite a game-high 22 points from graduate student Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding), the Mercy College women' basketball team dropped a 78-62 decision to ECC foe No. 7/13 Daemen University on Sunday afternoon at the Neil Judge Student Athlete Center.

The Mavericks (5-6, 2-2 ECC) fall to .500 in ECC play, while the Wildcats (7-1, 3-1 ECC) have won 14 straight meetings against Mercy.

Bender went 7-of-17 from the floor and added five rebounds. Senior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) added eight points, six rebounds and three assists and graduate student Sara Hopkins (Mountain Top, Pa./Concordia College) netted six points and three assists. Junior Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) contributed six points and a team-high seven rebounds and senior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) chipped in six points. Senior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) and sophomore Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) both contributed five points apiece.

Daemen was led by Gabby McDuffie who had a team-high 19 points.

Mercy jumped out to a 13-2 lead with 5:08 left in the first quarter after a Wall layup, leading to a Daemen timeout. Following the timeout, the Wildcats cut the deficit to nine, 15-6, at the 3:40 mark. Back-to-back baskets from Bender and Talib gave the Mavericks their largest lead of the game, 19-6, with 2:50 left in the quarter. Mercy later held a 23-10 lead after a pair of Talib free throws with one minute on the clock before back-to-back baskets by the Wildcats cut Mercy's lead to nine, 23-14, after the first quarter.

Daemen opened the second quarter on a 5-0 run to cut the Mavericks lead to four, 23-19, with 8:02 remaining in the half. Five straight points from Stanavich gave the Mavericks a nine-point lead, 28-19, with five minutes on the clock. The Wildcats followed with a 7-1 run to make it a three-point game, 29-26, before three straight points from Nudd gave Mercy a 32-26 lead with 2:36 left in the half. The Mavericks later held a 34-28 lead before Daemen ended the half on a 5-2 spurt to cut Mercy's lead to three, 36-33, at halftime.

A Bender three with 8:42 left in the third quarter gave Mercy a 41-33 lead. A Bender jumper at the 5:42 mark gave the Mavericks a 45-36 lead. Daemen rallied with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 45-45 with 2:08 left in the period. Talib answered with a layup to give Mercy the lead back and Bender netted two free throws to put the Mavericks up, 49-45, with 50 seconds left. The Wildcats ended the quarter with four straight points to tie the game at 49-49 after three quarters of play.

Daemen began the fourth quarter on a 13-2 run to take a 62-51 lead with 5:57 remaining. Wall followed with a three-point play to make it 62-54. Daemen scored the next four points to take a 66-54 lead before a Bender three made it 66-57 with 3:18 to go. The Wildcats ensued with a 12-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 78-59, with 41 seconds left. A late Kayla Halvorsen (Dobbs Ferry, N.Y./Dobbs Ferry) three would not be enough and Daemen came away with the win.

Mercy shot 35.8 percent (19-of-53) from the floor, 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from downtown and 87.0 percent (20-of-23) from the foul line. Daemen shot 45.6 percent (26-of-57) from the field, 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from beyond the arc and 94.7 percent (18-of-19) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 37-32 edge on the glass.

Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Sunday, December 18th when they host Goldey-Beacom at 2 p.m.