DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 23, 2022) – Powered by a game-high 27 points from junior Katie Wall (Wappingers Falls, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), the Mercy College women's basketball team earned a 61-44 win over ECC foe College of Staten Island on Wednesday night at Victory Gymnasium.
The Mavericks (11-14, 9-8 ECC) snap an eight-game losing streak and now have their most overall wins and most ECC wins since the 1996-97 season. The 44 points allowed against the Dolphins (6-19, 4-13 ECC) is the fewest surrendered by the Mavericks since a 96-39 win over Maine Fort Kent on January 7, 2017.
Wall led the way for Mercy with 27 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and 11-of-13 shooting from the foul line. The junior also had a game-high 11 rebounds and six assists. Junior Kellie Nudd (Colchester, Conn./Bacon Academy) added 11 points and senior Taysha Bender (Glen Burnie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) netted 10 points and six rebounds. Sophomore Maria Tedesco (Ocean Township, N.J./St. Rose) recorded six points and four rebounds.
Staten Island was led by Kristina Arvelo who had a team-high nine points.
Mercy opened the game with a 10-4 lead at the 4:14 mark of the first quarter after a Nudd three. The Dolphins scored six straight points to tie the game at 10-10 with 2:50 left in the quarter. A Wall free throw gave Mercy an 11-10 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Staten Island opened the second quarter with four straight points to take a 14-11 lead. The Dolphins later held an 18-17 lead with 3:51 left in the half. Mercy closed the half on a 6-0 run, capped off by a back-to-back threes from Wall and junior Briana Barnard (Bethlehem, Pa./Bethlehem Catholic) to take a 23-18 lead at halftime.
The Dolphins scored the first basket of the third quarter to cut Mercy's lead to three, 23-20. The Mavericks rallied with 10 straight points to take a 33-20 lead with 6:28 on the clock after a Bender jumper. Staten Island later cut the deficit to 10, 34-24, but two free throws from Wall and a layup from Bender gave Mercy a 14-point lead, 38-24, with 3:20 left in the quarter. The Dolphins ensued with a mini 6-0 spurt to get within eight, but Mercy immediately increased the lead back to 12 and held a 10-point advantage, 42-32, after three quarters of play.
Mercy opened the fourth quarter on a 9-2 run, finished off by a Nudd jumper, to take a 51-34 lead with 4:33 left. A Wall jumper with 59 seconds remaining gave Mercy its largest lead of the game, 61-42, and the Mavericks pulled away for the win.
Mercy shot 31.5 percent (17-of-54) from the floor, 37.5 percent (6-of-16) from downtown and 84.0 percent (21-of-25) from the foul line. Staten Island shot 28.6 percent (16-of-56) from the field, 7.7 percent (1-of-13) from beyond the arc and 57.9 percent (11-of-19) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 44-41 edge on the glass.
Head Coach Scott Lagas and the Mavericks conclude the regular season when they play at UDC on Saturday, February 26th at 1 p.m.
