FLUSHING, N.Y. (Feb. 10, 2022) – Despite a team-high 20 points from senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding), the Mercy College women's basketball team dropped a 68-59 decision to ECC foe Queens College on Thursday night at Fitzgerald Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (10-11, 8-5 ECC) have dropped five games in a row, while the Knights (3-16, 2-10 ECC) snap a three-game losing streak.
Bender added three rebounds and went 7-of-8 from the line. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) had 11 points and five rebounds and junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham) netted seven points. Junior Asha Talib (Allentown, Pa./University of Bridgeport) recorded seven points and five rebounds and sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) contributed six points and a team-high six rebounds. Sophomore Jamie Waldron (Monroe, N.Y./Monroe Woodbury) posted six points and freshman Jaclyn Stanavich (Amsterdam, N.Y./Amsterdam) scored two points.
Queens was led by Jennah DeGout who had a game-high 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Mercy jumped out to a 6-0 lead before Queens scored six straight points to tie the game at 6-6 with 4:43 left in the opening quarter. The Mavericks recorded the next six points, capped off by a Talib three-point play, to take a 12-6 lead at the 2:38 mark. A Bender layup with 26 seconds on the clock gave Mercy a 19-11 lead. Nora Gabel ended the quarter with a layup to cut Mercy's lead to six, 19-13, after the first quarter.
A Stanavich jumper at the 8:18 mark of the second quarter gave Mercy an eight-point lead, 21-13. The Knights rallied with nine straight points to take a 22-21 lead with 5:45 remaining in the half. A Tedesco layup with 4:07 on the clock gave Mercy a 25-24 lead. Queens ended the quarter on a 9-2 run to head into halftime with a 33-27 lead.
The Knights increased the lead to 11, 45-34, with 3:09 left in the third quarter. The Mavericks concluded the quarter on a 14-2 run, finished off by a Waldron layup, to take a 48-47 lead after three quarters.
Mercy started the fourth quarter on a 7-2 spurt, capped off by a Nudd three, to give the Mavericks a 55-49 lead with 6:40 left. Queens responded with a 19-2 run to take an 11-point lead, 68-57, with 15 seconds left. The deficit proved too much to overcome and the Knights came away with the win.
Mercy shot 33.8 percent (23-of-68) from the floor, 14.3 percent (3-of-21) from downtown and 90.9 percent (10-of-11) from the foul line. Queens shot 50.0 percent (23-of-46) from the field, 33.3 percent (4-of-12) from beyond the arc and 85.7 percent (18-of-21) from the charity stripe. Queens held a 41-28 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks resume action on Saturday, February 12th when they host Molloy at 12 p.m.
