DOBBS FERRY, N.Y. (Feb. 25, 2022) – The Mercy College women's basketball team plays at University of the District of Columbia in their regular season finale on Saturday, February 26th at 1 p.m.
Who, When and Where
Date/Time: Saturday, February 26th 1 p.m.
Records: Mercy (11-14, 9-8 ECC), District of Columbia (12-14, 8-9 ECC)
Location: Washington, D.C.
Last Meeting
Mercy earned a 77-64 win over UDC on January 15, 2022.
Scouting the Mavericks
Mercy is coming off a 61-44 win over Staten Island on Wednesday. The Mavericks were led by junior Katie Wall who had a game-high 27 points with a game-high 11 rebounds and six assists. Junior Kellie Nudd had 11 points and senior Taysha Bender netted 10 points. Mercy has secured their first ECC Tournament berth without every team making it since 2009. The Mavericks can secure the No. 4 seed and a first-round home game with a win over UDC on Saturday, a Roberts Wesleyan loss to Bridgeport, a Staten Island win or a Queens loss. The Mavericks currently sit in fifth place in the ECC standings. Mercy currently has their most overall wins and most ECC wins in a season since the 1996-97 season. The Mavericks are looking to sweep the season series with the Firebirds for the first time since the 2016-17 season. Mercy was picked seventh in the ECC Coaches' Poll after going 1-8 in 2021. The top six teams in the ECC standings qualify for the ECC Tournament. Mercy made their first ECC Tournament appearance since 2009 last season. Wall is a two-time ECC Player of the Week, one-time MBWA Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention and two-time Honor Roll recipient and ranks fourth in the ECC in points per game (16.4), third in assists (4.3) and is second in steals per game (2.4). Wall has scored 20 or more points in 10 games this season. Senior Taysha Bender was named to the ECC Honor Roll on January 24th and ranks seventh in the conference in points per game (14.4) with 1.9 made threes per game. Bender had a career-high 26 points in the win over UDC on January 15th. The senior has scored in double figures in 10 of her last 12 games. Nudd was named to the ECC Honor Roll and Metropolitan Basketball Writers Association (MBWA) Division II-III Player of the Week Honorable Mention on December 20th and is averaging 10.4 points per game and 5.4 rebounds per game. The junior has scored in double figures in 13 games this year. Junior Asha Talib was named ECC Defensive Player of the Week on November 22nd and is posting 6.5 points per game with 5.8 rebounds per game. Sophomore Maria Tedesco is averaging 5.8 points per game and a team-high 6.0 rebounds per game and has scored in double figures in three games this year.
Scouting the Firebirds
UDC is coming off a 74-61 loss at St. Thomas Aquinas on Wednesday. The Firebirds have secured the No. 6 seed in next week's ECC Tournament. It will be their first ECC Tournament appearance since 2016. The Firebirds were picked sixth in the ECC Preseason Poll after going 8-20 in 2019-20. UDC is led by one-time ECC Player of the Week sophomore Latavia Jackson who is averaging a team-high 15.3 points per game with 6.4 rebounds per game. Two-time ECC Rookie of the Week freshman Destiny Ryles is posting 11.9 points per game and a team-high 4.5 assists per game. She also averages a team-high 3.0 steals per game. Sophomore Halia Ellis averages 8.5 points per game and freshman Ronnasia Blatch-Huggins is putting up 8.1 points per game and a team-high 8.5 rebounds per game.
