DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Dec. 30, 2022) – The Mercy College women's basketball team plays at Division I Sacred Heart University in an exhibition on Saturday, December 31st at 1 p.m. The Mavericks will then play at Alliance University on Monday, January 2nd at 6:30 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, December 31st 1 p.m.
Records: Mercy (6-6), Sacred Heart (2-9)
Location: Fairfield, Conn.
Date/Time: Monday, January 2nd 6:30 p.m.
Records: Mercy (6-6), Alliance (1-7)
Location: Jersey City, N.J.
Last Meeting vs. Sacred Heart
Mercy earned a 79-75 win over Sacred Heart on December 11, 1990.
Last Meeting vs. Alliance
Mercy earned a 70-52 win over Alliance on November 23, 2019.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 68-58 win over Goldey-Beacom on December 18th. The Mavericks were led by senior Katie Wall and graduate student Taysha Bender who combined for 37 points. Wall and Bender have both been named to the ECC Honor Roll twice this season and Wall was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on December 19th. Bender and Wall have also been named Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention once. Wall recorded her 1,000th career point against Chestnut Hill on December 6th and Bender netted her 1,000th career point on December 9th against D'Youville. Mercy is 11-1 all-time against Sacred Heart but the two teams haven't met since 1990. Saturday's game will not count towards Mercy's record but will count towards Sacred Heart's record. Mercy last played an exhibition against a Division I team in 2018 when they played at St. Francis (Brooklyn). The Mavericks are 6-4 in their last 10 meetings against Alliance and have won the last three meetings. Mercy is looking to start 7-6 for the second straight season. Wall averages a team-high 13.0 points per game with 2.3 assists per game and 2.0 steals per game. Bender is second on the team with 12.3 points per game and averages 5.3 rebounds per game. The graduate student also averages a team-high 2.1 steals per game. Sophomore Kayla Halvorsen is tied for fifth on the team with 4.8 points per game on 44.7 percent shooting and senior Asha Talib averages 5.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Jaclyn Stanavich is posting a career-high 4.7 points per game. Junior Maria Tedesco averages a team-high 5.7 rebounds per game and freshman Angelina Barrera is netting 4.8 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Graduate student Sara Hopkins dishes out a team-high 3.3 assists per game and senior Kellie Nudd posts 8.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game. Mercy enters the 2022-23 season picked fourth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 11-16 last season. The Mavericks recorded their most overall wins and most ECC wins since 1997 and earned the program's first ECC Championship berth without every team making it since 2009. Mercy looks to qualify for the ECC Championship for the third straight year and win their first-ever ECC Championship. The fourth-place ranking is the highest in five seasons under Head Coach Scott Lagas. Wall was named the ECC Preseason Player of the Year after being named First Team All-ECC and First Team All-Met last season. She was named ECC Player of the Week twice after averaging a team-high 16.0 points, 4.4 assists and 2.4 steals per game. The guard ranked fourth in the ECC in points per game and second in assists and steals per game. Also returning for the Mavericks is Bender who was named Second Team All-ECC and Second Team All-Met last season after averaging 14.3 points per game. Nudd also returns after averaging 10.4 points per game. Tedesco comes back after leading the Mavericks with 6.0 rebounds per game to go along with 6.0 points per game. Talib averaged 6.5 points and 5.7 rebounds per game last season and also returns. Lagas will look to Hopkins who returns after missing last season due to injury. Hopkins averaged 6.8 points and a team-high 5.6 assists per game for Concordia in 2021. During her three-year career at Concordia, she averaged 8.2 points and 3.8 assists per game. Lagas will also look to freshmen Megan Marcotte, Barrera, Nya Carroll and Kyla Nembach to help get the Mavericks back to the ECC Championship.
Scouting the Pioneers
Sacred Heart is coming off a 64-52 loss to Providence on December 20th. The Pioneers have earned wins over Hartford and Fairfield this season. Sacred Heart was picked sixth in the Northeast Conference (NEC) Preseason Poll after going 8-17 last season. The Pioneers have qualified for the NEC Tournament in every season except the 2020-21 campaign that only included the top four teams. Sacred Heart is led by Ny'Ceara Pryor who has been named NEC Rookie of the Week five times and was tabbed Co-Player of the Week. She averages a team-high 16.5 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 4.1 steals per game. Sajada Bonner is second on the team with 9.6 points per game and Amelia Wood is third with 6.3 points per game. Wood is also second on the team with 5.2 rebounds per game. Carly Stroemel leads the team with 1.6 blocks per game.
Scouting Alliance
Alliance is coming off a 66-60 loss to Bridgeport on Thursday. Alliance was formerly known as Nyack College. Alliance was picked seventh in the CACC North Division Preseason Poll after going 6-16 last season. Alliance is led by Carly Bolivar who leads the team with 14.0 points and 3.0 steals per game and also averages 4.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. Nicole Blanch is second on the team with 11.0 points per game and dishes out a team-high 2.8 assists per game. Ashlyn Mesidor ranks third on the team with 10.5 points per game and averages a team-high 8.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. Raquel Crooke-Losada is fourth with 7.9 points per game.
Next Game
Mercy hosts Roberts Wesleyan on Friday, January 6th at 5 p.m.
